I am not alone anymore! Naruto love story
by Hatake Yuko
Summary: The guys are trianing at the training field when they find a girl in the bushes, slowly dying. Who is this girl? and why is she in the bushes? Naruto X OC
1. Chapter 1: Being found, lost memories

**Chapter 1: Being found, regain lost memories**

I had been running for days with no destination in mind. I just wanted to get away from that horrible place. I'm getting tired and worn-out. I haven't been eating or drinking for days now and my clothes are torn, actually, the only thing I'm wearing is a blanket, but it is getting filled with holes. I can't take this anymore and I'm now lying in a bush, just hoping to die, to get away from this world. I could feel how the darkness was taking me away, leaving me in an unconscious state where I was only able to hear what happened around me, when I heard some voices talking. "Who would spy on us?"

"I don't know. Let's go and check it out." I heard footsteps, a lot of footsteps, getting closer to the bush I was in. I heard the leaves been pushed away from each other and I heard a lot of gasps. "It's a girl! And she doesn't look like she's okay." The person who was talking had a lazy undertone in his voice. "Let's take her to the hospital, or else she will die!" I felt someone was picking me up from around the shoulders and from under my thighs, holding me bridal style. No… just let me die. I felt the blanket was slowly falling off from my left, showing the left side of my body, but not my personal and private parts, and once again I heard the persons gasp. "Oh my god! She's naked!" A rather cheerful and energetic voice said. I felt someone lift the blanket back up and wrapped it around me. All the voices are male voices. At least they are not perverts, or maybe they are just being nice to me. "Let's go now before the whole blanket falls off." The person who was holding me said and began to run, really fast, probably to a hospital. The feeling of the wind blowing in my face and my hair was the last thing I felt before the darkness took over completely.

Am I in heaven now? Or am I in hell? I opened my eyes slowly and looked around. I was in a white room with white curtains for the window and I was lying on a bed. Am I at the hospital? The persons who found me did say something about hospital… I think. I was wearing a hospital gown, so I have to be at the hospital. I heard someone talking outside the room I was in and listened carefully. "She is really thin. She has not eaten anything for days and she has several bruises on her body. She was near death when you guys found her." It was a female voice, probably a doctor or a nurse, since she knew my condition. "So what you are saying is, that if we didn't find her in that bush, she might have been dead by now?" The voice sounded dark, like full of hatred.

I have to get out of here. I can't stay. I managed to sit up in the bed and swing my legs out of the bed, but it was taking hard on the bit amount of energy I had. I got out of the bed, but I immediately collapsed on the floor with a loud thud as my foot twisted. I started to cry out in pain and the door to the room opened and someone ran to me. I raised my head a bit and saw a girl with pink hair, wearing a doctor's outfit. She tried to get me up and back in the bed, but had problems with it for some reason. I felt someone pick me up and put me back in the bed. I turned my head to look at the person who had picked me up and found myself looking at a guy with yellow spiky hair and whiskers on his cheeks. I cried out in pain again as I felt the girl touch my foot. For some reason the pain intensified when the girl started to heal my foot.

I heard footsteps entering the room and I looked to my left to see a bunch of guys. "W-who are y-you?... and w-where am I?" I asked as I wiped away the tears that went down my cheeks. "I'm Sakura and these are my friends Naruto, Kiba, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Neji and Lee. It was them who found you. You currently are at the hospital in Konohagakure." I looked at the pink haired girl, named Sakura, and nodded understanding. I then looked over at the guys. "T-thanks… for bringing me here." I said as I wiped away more tears. A nurse entered the room, she was having a tray with food, probably for me. The pink haired girl, named Sakura, took the tray and placed it on the table next to me. "There you go. Now, try to eat something, you really need some food. By the way, what is your name and how old are you?" I looked at the food and took the bun and nibbled on it. "M-my name is Keichi… I-I'm 15 years old."

"What were you doing in the forest? What happened to you and why were you only wearing that old holed blanket?" I ate the half of the bun before I answered Sakura's question. "I-I was running away from my home in Otogakure. My family treated me like shit, so I ran off… but… they ran after me and attacked me and tried everything to get me back... I was wearing clothes when I ran away, but the forest and my family's attack tore my clothes to pieces. Luckily I had my blanket with me. I didn't get a chance to get much food with me so I barely got anything to eat… I should be lucky if that happened. I just ran, and ran, and ran, and then I just couldn't run anymore, and I didn't know where I was, so I decided to lie down in the bushes and hoped I would die." They all looked at me with a shocked expression as I told them what happened. "But… Then I heard you guys talking and take me away before I passed out."

"You were awake when we found you?" The boy with the whiskers asked. "Kind of… I was in some kind of unconscious state where I was only able to hear what happened around me." I nibbled on the bun again and took a sip of the water. "We will let you get some rest now Keichi. You really need it. If you need anything, just pull in the red string next to your bed and I will be here in no time." Sakura said and pushed the guys with her out of the room. I finished eating the bun and looked at some of the fruit that was lying on the tray. I really wanted to eat it, but I couldn't. Due to not have been eating for days, have reduced my appetite. I laid down in the bed and looked up at the ceiling. What is going to happen when I get out of here? I don't have any money so I can't live by myself. Will they send me back to Otogakure? Or will they just simply throw me out of the village? With those thoughts in my head, I drifted into sleep, a sleep I haven't been able to sleep in for days, maybe weeks.

Ten days have passed since I was brought to the hospital by Naruto and his friends and I'm doing better, but I'm not allowed to leave the hospital yet because of my low weight and still reduced appetite. I needed some fresh air, so I was sitting on a bench outside the hospital, having my eyes closed and thinking of what was going to happen to me once I get out of here. I was snapped out of my thoughts when I felt something or someone licking my face wet. I opened my eyes to see it was the big dog Akamaru, Kiba's dog, who was licking my face. "Haha! No Akamaru! It tickles!" I said while laughing. Akamaru stopped licking my face, sat down and wagged his tail like a happy maniac. I giggled at him and patted his head while I wiped the dog salvia off my face.

"I'm sorry about that Keichi, he just ran off when he caught your scent." I looked to my right and saw Kiba suddenly sitting next to me. "It's okay Kiba. I was going to take a shower anyways." I said and laughed lightly. Kiba chuckled and patted Akamaru's head. Kiba and Akamaru have visited me a lot since I was put in the hospital and we have become really close friends. "My mom and sister would like to meet you." I raised my eyebrow slightly and had a confused expression on my face. "Why?"

"Well, they want to know who it is I'm visiting practically every day at the hospital."

"So they know about me?"

"Yeah, I mean, they can smell your scent on me when I've visited you, so I told them how we found you, how much Akamaru seems to like you and how much you and I have become friends." I giggled lightly and looked up at the sky. "Then bring them here with you, tomorrow." I said as I looked back at Kiba with a smile on my face. "Great! I'll do that." Kiba smiled brightly and Akamaru licked my hand. I looked at him and patted his head. "You're a good boy Akamaru."

I woke up the next morning, feeling my face getting licked wet. I opened my eyes and laughed as I saw Akamaru. "Again? I did take a shower before I went to bed last night." Akamaru barked and wagged his tail. "Akamaru, you have to stop doing that every time you see Keichi." I turned my head to my left and saw Kiba. His mother and sister was standing on each side of him. "It's okay Kiba." I said with a giggle and patted Akamaru's head. "Keichi, this is my mother, Tsume and my sister, Hana." I looked at them and smiled. "Hi. I'm Keichi."

"So you are the famous Keichi that Kiba talks so much about and who Akamaru likes so much." Tsume said and looked at me with studying eyes. "Yup, that's me." Tsume nodded and sniffed in the air. "Have we met before? Your smell seems a bit familiar to me." Hana took a sniff in the air as well and agreed with Tsume. I shook my head and looked a bit confused at them. "No, I don't think so. I have lived the most of my life in Otogakure." Tsume nodded understanding and crossed her arms as she smiled slightly at me. "Now I'm just curious, but where are you going to live when you get out of the hospital?" She asked and raised her eyebrow a bit. I sighed and looked down in the bed. "I actually don't know. I've been thinking about that myself. I don't have any money, so I can't buy my own place." I looked back at Tsume. She looked like she was thinking about something. "Well, if you want to, you can come and live with us." Both Kiba and I looked at Tsume with a shocked expression on our faces. "But mom, you don't even know her."

"I'm well aware of that Kiba. But there's something about her smell that reminds me of something… something good. Besides, the two of you seem to be pretty close friends and Akamaru likes her pretty much, which is weird since she is a stranger." Kiba nodded understanding and looked back at me. "So what do you say Keichi? Are you going to live with us?" I looked at Kiba and smiled brightly. "I would like to be near my friend." Kiba smiled and gave me a friendly hug and I hugged back. I looked smiling over at Tsume. "Thank you so much." She smiled friendly at me. "You're welcome."

Kiba, Tsume and Hana left after thirty minutes to let me rest. I was about to lie down in the bed when the door to my room opened again. I looked over to see it was Sasuke, it really surprised me to see him, cause he hasn't been visiting me before. "Hey." He said as he came closer to me and sat down on the chair that was next to my bed. "Hey." I said and smiled friendly at him. "I need to ask you something…" Sasuke said and looked at me with a very serious face. It must be very important if he comes here to see me and then put up that serious face. "I went to do a little research about you, because both you and your name seems familiar to me. So I really need to ask you this… Have you only lived in Otogakure? Or have you lived somewhere else before?" He looked at me, a bit of hope flashed over his face for a second.

"I… I'm not that sure… I don't remember much before Otogakure. I was only 7 when I started to live there. The only thing I remember is that I was walking around and did anything to stay alive… I don't remember much other than that." Sasuke nodded understanding, reached down in his pocket and pulled out a picture and looked at it. "Then this is not you?" Sasuke put the picture on my lap and I looked closely at it. On the picture were a little boy, which obviously was Sasuke, and a little girl. The picture looked old, yet new. It has not gained much damaged through the years. It looks like he has taken well care of the picture, to make sure it would not break. I took a closer look at the girl and realized it was me. Her hair, her eyes and her face… it was me. I began to tear up as I held a hand for my mouth in shock, surprise and confusion. "What's wrong?" Sasuke asked, a bit of worry was traced in his voice.

"T-that… that is me… the girl in this picture is me." I said while sobbing. I turned my head to look at Sasuke and he looked at me with his eyes wide open. He got up from the chair and hugged me tightly. To feel Sasuke hug me awakened something in me. A feeling I have missed for years, but didn't know I missed. To feel this feeling filled my eyes with tears that went down my cheeks. "W-why are you hugging me Sasuke?" He pulled a bit back from the hug and looked at me. He had tears in his eyes that threatened to fall down his cheeks. "Tell me just one thing… Do you remember your surname, from before Otogakure?" I started to think really hard about it and my head actually started to hurt pretty badly. Then, a name popped up in my head that sounded so familiar to me.

"T-this name pops up in my head… Uchiha…" The tears that just before threatened to leave his eyes, was now streaming down his cheeks and he hugged me tight again. "W-what's wrong? D-did I say something wrong?" I asked rather confused by the whole situation. Sasuke pulled back from the hug and wiped his tears. He then pointed at the picture that was lying on my lap. "That picture is one of the only memories I have left of my family. The boy is me, which you probably already have guessed, and the girl… the girl is… my sister." My eyes once again got filled with tears that were now streaming down my cheeks. "A-am I… y-your sister?"

"You have to be. If you recall your surname was Uchiha, and you say that the girl in this picture is you… You have to be my sister." I looked at the picture once again and suddenly a lot of memories flashed through my mind. How Sasuke and I played around in the garden, how he would protect me from bullies and how we teased our elder brother, Itachi. "I-I remember now… I remember it Sasuke… I am your sister." Sasuke hugged me tightly once again and I felt his tears land on my shoulder. "I found you… I found my lost sister." I hugged Sasuke and found myself clinging to his shirt. A brother… I have a brother and I just found him, or rather, he found me. I looked over at the door as I heard it open. Sakura stepped in and looked at me and Sasuke with a rather hurt expression, but she tried to cover it up. "Oh, sorry if I interrupted something." Sasuke turned around and looked at Sakura. "It's okay. You can come in." Sakura's face expression change from hurt to shock when she saw Sasuke was crying. "Sasuke, are you okay? Why are you crying?" Sasuke sat down on my bed and hugged me tight, again! "You know that I told you I had a younger sister, right?"

"Uhm, yeah I do… why?"

"I just found her Sakura… Keichi is my lost sister." Sakura looked at us and smiled. "I'm so glad you found her Sasuke. Didn't you think she was dead?" Sasuke nodded and wiped some of his tears, still holding an arm around me. "I just came with Keichi's food and medicine. I'll just put it on the table and leave again. You two must have a lot to talk about." Sakura put my food and medicine on the table and left again. I looked at Sasuke and we started to talk. The more and more we talked about our childhood, the more of my memories came back.


	2. Chapter 2: More family?

**Chapter 2: More family?**

I'm lying in the bed with my eyes closed as if I was sleeping, but I'm not. I just like to lie like this, cause then I get a chance to think about all the things that has been going through the last week. I've got new friends, a place to live and most important of all… I've found out that I have an elder brother. Actually it's two, but I don't know where Itachi is. I was deep in all those thoughts when I suddenly heard someone sit on the chair next to my bed and felt a hand on my shoulder. I opened my eyes and smiled when I saw Sasuke sitting next to my bed. "Oh sorry, did I wake you up?"

"No, don't worry. I was awake." I said reassuring and sat up in the bed. "Good. I would feel bad if I woke you up from your sleep." I giggled and moved a bit to the side as I patted on the free spot on the bed next to me. "Sit here." Sasuke smiled at me and moved up on the bed. I noticed he was having something in his hand and looked at it. It was some kind of book, a big one at that matter. "What are you having there?" I asked and pointed at the book. "A photo album."

"A photo album? Why did you bring a photo album?"

"Because I wanted to show you some of the pictures of us when we were kids." He replied me with a smile and put the photo album on his lap. "I thought the picture you brought with you yesterday was one of the last you had of us?"

"No, I said it was one of the last memories I had left of my family. I still have some pictures of us as kids."

"Oh… I guess I misunderstood it then." I said and giggled. Sasuke chuckled and opened the photo album, showing me the different pictures he had left. I rested my head on Sasuke shoulder and looked at the pictures. Some of them were funny and made me laugh. At one of the pictures I was dressing Sasuke in one of my very girly pink dresses that had bows and laces on it. It was a bit too small of course, but it looked funny. I had done his hair in two small spiky bunches and used ribbons to hold the hair. "Haha! Oh god. Sasuke, why did you even let me do it?" Sasuke looked at me and chuckled. "You had some very good persuading methods."

"I had?"

"Yes you had. You could make me and Itachi do almost anything for you, just by looking at us with teary puppy eyes and a quivering bottom lip."

"I could make you two do almost anything just by doing that?"  
"Yup… or cry hysterical like a brat until you got it your way." Sasuke said with a raised eyebrow. I smiled sheepishly at him as I scratched the back of my head. "Ehe… What can I say? I'm a determined girl."

"I can only agree." He said and chuckled. We kept looking at the pictures and I noticed that at some of them, I was sitting on a man's lap, but it wasn't our father's lap. "Sasuke, who is that man?" I asked and pointed at one of the pictures where he was at. "Oh, that's your father." I looked at Sasuke with a confused look. "We don't have the same father?"

"No we don't."

"How come?" I asked rather curious. "Well, of what I know, my father was out with some friends one night and got really drunk, a bit too drunk maybe, cause he cheated on our mother. They got a divorce, since our mother couldn't stand looking at my father after what he did. Back at the time, I was only 9 months old. Then our mother found a boyfriend from another clan, I don't recall what clan it is unfortunately, but eleven months later, you were born. When you were around a year old, my father came to our mother and practically begged for her forgiveness. She did forgive him, cause she realized that he was drunk at the time he cheated on her. They stayed friends until your father and our mother decided to break up."

"Why did they break up?"

"Because your father was always on long missions, and when he came home from the missions, he was only home for one day and then he left again, so our mother moved back in with my father. Your father and our mother stayed friends for your sake, so that you would still have your father. You and I played together every day when we were kids. You were precious to me and Itachi. We defended you when you were bullied by some of the other Uchiha kids, since you were… 'a mix' of two clans. Then one day, when I came home from the academy, everyone in the academy was killed and I couldn't find you anywhere. I thought I should never see you again, my precious little sister." I teared up a bit and hugged Sasuke. "I'm so glad to know that I still have my real family, even if it's only my brother. That's enough for me."

Sasuke hugged me back just as the door to my room opened. I looked towards the door and saw Naruto and Kiba standing in the room. "Uhm, Hey Keichi… Sasuke… why are the two of you hugging?" Naruto asked with a confused look on his face. Sasuke pulled from the hug and turned around to look at them. "Guys. Keichi is my lost sister." Their eyes widened a bit and their jaws dropped. "What? Really? That's great!" Naruto said and grinned. "Hey Keichi, I just spoke to Sakura, she said you are ready to leave the hospital. Are you ready to come with me home?" Kiba asked and smiled. "Yeah, just one problem though… I don't have any clothes to wear other than this hospital gown." Kiba chuckled and tossed a bag on the bed. "Here, it's some of my sisters old clothes that she can't fit anymore. You can wear that while we go to the village and find you something else."

"But Kiba, I don't have any money."

"Don't think about that. I'll pay." He said and smiled. "Me too." Sasuke said and rubbed my arm. "Aaw, thank you guys. Now, please leave while I change." I said as I made pushing movement with my hands. Sasuke got off the bed and left the room along with Kiba and Naruto.

We arrived at Kiba's home, which is now my home too, after we had bought some new clothes for me, which took us about four hours. Sasuke and Naruto left me and Kiba when we finished shopping, they had something to do apparently. Kiba opened the door to the house and let me walk in first. He showed me to my room and helped me to put my new clothes in the closet. "Well, welcome to your new home Keichi. Come, let me show you around." He said with a smile and grabbed my wrist and dragged me to his room, the bathroom and the kitchen, where his mother was. "Hey you two. What are you doing?"

"I'm showing Keichi around." Kiba replied his mother. "I see. What do you think so far Keichi?" I looked at Tsume and smiled. "It's nice. I think I'm going to be good here."

"Good. Dinner is ready in thirty minutes." Both Kiba and I nodded and he grabbed my wrist, left the kitchen and dragged me to the living room. I looked around in the living room and my gaze landed on a picture on a shelf. I stepped closer to the picture to examine it further. As I got a closer looked at the picture, I froze. I covered my mouth with my hand and tried to think of why a picture of him was in Kiba's home. I felt Kiba's hand on my shoulder followed by his voice. "Keichi, are you okay?" I didn't answer him. I kept staring at the picture until my eyes got filled with tears. "Oh dear… Mom!" I saw Tsume enter the living room from the corner of my eye. "What's wrong?"

"Something is wrong with Keichi." Tsume stood next to me and put a hand on my shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"W-who is that man?" I asked as I pointed on the picture. "That's my brother. Why do you ask?" I looked at Tsume as a few tears ran down my cheeks. "T-that's my father." Both Kiba and Tsume looked at me in shock. "Keichi, are you sure about that?" Tsume asked me. "I-I'm pretty sure…"

"Why are you so sure?"

"B-because… Sasuke showed me pictures of me and him as children and… that man was at some of the pictures. Sasuke told me that he was my father." I looked at Tsume and noticed her eyes were widened slightly. "Are you really Kenchi's daughter?... But… his daughter disappeared after he died."

"D-died?... my father is dead?" Tsume nodded and wiped a few of my tears. "He died on a mission about eight years ago and we never saw his daughter, I mean you, since that." I looked at Kiba when I heard him sniff, he was crying. "K-Kiba… w-why are you crying?"

"I can't believe it… Keichi, you are my cousin! I haven't seen you since I was eight!" He said and hugged me. "I-I can't believe it… I have more family than just Sasuke… I-it's incredible." I pulled away from the hug and looked smiling at Kiba and Tsume. "If you are Kenchi's daughter, that is probably why you seemed so familiar. That is probably too why Akamaru likes you, he recognizes you." Tsume said with a smile and went back to the kitchen. I looked at Kiba and hugged him again. "The memories are coming back to me… I remember how we played around you, I and Akamaru." Kiba chuckled lightly and hugged back. "I never stopped remembering. Come, I got something to show you." He grabbed my wrist and dragged me to his room. He pushed me down in the bed, gently, and sat down next to me as he had grabbed a photo album. He showed me pictures of the times me and my father was at his place and we played around outside along with Akamaru. I'm so happy. Not only do I have a brother, I have a cousin, a cousin and an aunt as well. Now I know that I will be happy here.


	3. Chapter 3: I have chakra?

**Chapter 3: I have chakra?**

Two weeks has passed since I started to live at Kiba's place and I have become very good friends with Naruto and the others. We meet up every day, either at Kiba's place, the park or the training field. If we meet up at the training field, like we are doing now, the others are training as well. While they are training, I have to sit on the side and watch them, because I know nothing of fighting in any way. Right now I'm sitting on the ground, watching the others train.

I have to say that it's very fascinating. I wish I could participate in their training and learn how to dodge, attack and fight back. I was snapped out of my thoughts when I heard someone talking behind me. I turned my head slowly to look over my shoulder and saw some elder guys looking at me with slight devious smirks. "W-what do you want?" I asked rather nervous. I didn't like the way they were looking at me, it was scaring me. "How old are you?" One of them asked as he leaned down closer to me. "I-I'm 15…"

"Seriously? Shouldn't you be doing a bit more out of yourself then?" He asked and moved closer, making me back off a bit. "W-what do you mean?"

"What do I mean? Take a look at yourself man. Your hair is straight and boring and it has a boring color, a faded pink, and you're really skinny. It's gross." I turned my head away from the guys as tears started to form in my eyes. It's not my fault I'm looking like this. I've been running and hospitalized. "Aaw, is the little girl about to cry?" The guy said, making the other guy laugh. I didn't want to listen to them anymore. Their words were hurting inside of me, so I tried to push the guys away from me. I didn't hit them, cause they moved away from me as I turned around, but flames came out of my palms and hit one of the guys, making him scream in pain. The other guy looked furious at me. "You little!" He clenched his fist and aimed it for my face. I closed my eyes and waited for the impact of his fist against my cheek, but it never happened. I opened my eyes to see that Naruto was standing in front of me, holding the guys fist in his palm. "Don't you dare touch her!" He gave the guy an evil stare. "Oh yeah? And who should stop me? You?"

"And us!" We were suddenly surrounded by Sasuke, Kiba and all the others. The guy backed away and gulped. He picked up his friend and ran away as fast as he could. Naruto turned around and squatted down in front of me. "Are you okay Keichi? Did they hurt you?" I nodded slightly, still in shock that flames came out of my hand. "Where did they hurt you?" I sniffed and held a hand for my chest as a sign that they hurt my feelings. "Idiots! Don't listen to them Keichi. You're pretty as you are." I wiped a tear and looked at Naruto. "I-it was my fault." Naruto raised an eyebrow in confusion. I turned my head and looked at Sasuke as he put a hand on my shoulder. "What was your fault?"

"T-the flames on the other boy… I-I did that…" Sasuke sat down next to me and laid an arm around me. "You did that? But how? You don't know how to use jutsus." I just shrugged and looked around at everyone as they were looking at me. "Maybe we should let Tsunade-sama take a look at her." Kiba suggested. "Yeah, let's do that." Sasuke agreed as he got up from the ground. He offered me a hand to help me up and I put my hand in his. He pulled me up from the ground and they all took me to Tsunade's office.

When Tsunade finished examining my body from chakra, she looked at Sasuke and Kiba, who were in the office with me. "Keichi, there's no doubt that you have chakra, therefore you have to meet at the academy tomorrow at 8:00 am." I nodded understanding and left the office along with Sasuke and Kiba. The others were waiting for us outside the hokage building. They looked at us and walked over to us as they saw us come out of the building. "What did Tsunade-sama say?" Naruto asked and looked at me. "I have chakra… I'm going to attend the academy tomorrow at 8:00 am… But I'm scared." Sasuke kissed my forehead and laid an arm around my shoulders. "It's going to be okay Keichi. At the academy, you'll be taught the basics. You're going to be just fine." I rested my head on Sasuke's shoulder and looked at him. "You think so Sasuke?" He nodded and gave me a soft smile. "I'm sure." I nodded understanding and sighed. "Keichi, we should get back home now. It's getting late." I looked at Kiba and nodded. "We probably should… See you guys later." I told everyone and gave Sasuke a hug before going back home with Kiba.

Kiba was following me to the academy, he had promised me to do that since I was so nervous about all of this. He stopped up when we were in front of a classroom and looked at me. "This is your classroom." He said and smiled at me. "I'm afraid I have to go before your sensei arrives, I have to help mom with some things, okay?" I nodded slightly and gave Kiba a hug. "It's going to be okay Keichi. Just wait here for your sensei, okay?"

"O-okay Kiba." Kiba pulled from the hug and kissed my forehead before leaving. I leaned my back against the wall and slide down so I was sitting on the floor with my legs against my chest, my arms crossed over my knees and my chin on my arms. I twirled some hair around my finger as I waited for my sensei. I wonder how he or she is like. I really don't hope it's one of those strict persons. I hate strict persons and it won't fit with the fact that I'm nervous at the moment. "You must be my new student, I presume." I looked up when I heard someone talking and looked at a man. He was having a scar across the bridge of his nose and his brown hair pulled back in a ponytail.

"Are you…" He looked at some papers, his eyes widened slightly. "Uchiha Keichi?" He looked at me again, with a surprised expression on his face. "An Uchiha? I thought Sasuke was the last Uchiha." I slowly got up from the floor, still looking at this man, who probably was my sensei. "Y-yes… I'm Uchiha Keichi." He nodded understanding and smiled lightly. He could probably sense that I was nervous as hell. "I'm Umino Iruka. I'm going to be your sensei. Just follow me inside the classroom."

I nodded slightly and followed Iruka inside the classroom. I looked around and was a bit shocked when I saw that the other students were kids between 9 and 11 probably. I thought I would be put in a class with people at my age. "Everyone, this is your new classmate, Keichi. I expected that all of you are being nice to her." Iruka said as I took a seat at the front of the class, that way no one could get to look at my face. I looked at Iruka and listened carefully while he talked about chakra and chakra flow. I made sure to take notes so I could read it again when I got home. I couldn't avoid hearing some of the girls and boys behind me, when they talked about me. "How old is she?"

"She looks way too old to be an academy student."

"Maybe she failed the pass exam too many times."

"What a loser." I just looked down at my notebook and pretended that I didn't hear them, but the truth is that I heard every single heart piercing word they said, and it made me want to cry. I was so deep in my thoughts about this, that I didn't realize that the bell rang and the class was over. All the other kids ran out of the room, but I stayed on my seat. "Are you okay Keichi?" I looked up at Iruka as he walked closer to my table. "I-I'm fine… I think…" Iruka sat down on the chair next to me and looked at me. "Would you mind telling me what's wrong?" I looked down at the table and clenched my fists around my pants. "It's just… I heard some of the other kids talk about me… They think I failed the pass exam too many times… They think I'm a loser."

I closed my eyes as tears fought their way out, but unfortunately a tear escaped my eye and landed on the table. Iruka put a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Don't listen to them Keichi. They don't know the reason why you are here, if they knew the reason why, they probably wouldn't be picking at you." I was about to reply Iruka when the door to the classroom opened and Kiba stepped in. I flew up from my chair, rushed over to Kiba and hugged him while crying silently. "Hey, hey, hey. What happened to you?" Kiba asked as he hugged me back and rubbed my back comforting. "Some of the other students were picking at her. I'll deal with it tomorrow." Kiba looked over at Iruka when he spoke. "Iruka-sensei, are you Keichi's sensei?"

"Yes I am."

"I see. I'll take Keichi home so she can get this day out of her system."

"Wait just a bit Kiba." Iruka said. I turned my head and looked at Iruka as I heard him get off the chair. He walked over to his desk. He opened a drawer, took out a book and walked towards Kiba and I. "Here, take this with you home Keichi. It's about chakra and chakra flow. I realized you weren't listening since it bothered you so much what the others said." I reached out for the book and took it. "T-thank you Iruka-sensei… and I'm sorry." Iruka smiled lightly at me. "It's okay. Don't think about it. Get some rest and read the book." I nodded understanding and left the academy along with Kiba. I was silent all the way back home. The voices and the words from the other students rang through my head and wouldn't leave me alone. It was first when Kiba and I reached our home and went to his room I began to talk. "Do you mind telling me what they said to you Kei?" I sat down on Kiba's bed and looked at him. "T-they think I'm a loser…"

"Why?" Kiba asked and sat down next to me. "Because they think I've failed the pass exam too many times, since I'm so much older than them."

"Don't mind them Kei. They don't know the reason why you are the-…" I cut Kiba off and looked at him. "Iruka-sensei told me the same thing. I think you're both right, but it still hurts so much to hear them say things like that behind my back and don't ask me why I'm there." Tears slowly formed in my eyes again, threatening to run down my cheeks. Kiba reached out for me and pulled me into a comforting hug. I snuggled closer into Kiba's comforting hug, feeling safe. It knocked on the door to Kiba's room and we both looked towards the door. "Come in." He said. The door opened and in stepped Sasuke and Naruto. "Hey guys." Kiba said while rubbing my back. "Hey Kiba… what's wrong with Keichi?" Sasuke asked. I got out of Kiba's embrace and threw myself into Sasuke's arms. "Hey, hey, hey. What's wrong Keichi?"

I didn't answer, I just started to cry, which made Kiba tell Sasuke and Naruto what happened. "It's going to be alright. Just wait and see." I looked up at Sasuke and nodded as I sniffed. "They just don't know why you are there." I looked over at Naruto as he spoke, he was having his usual big grin on his face. "Iruka-sensei told me that as well." Naruto's grin turned into a surprised look. "Iruka-sensei is your sensei?" I nodded and sat down on Kiba's bed again. "He was our sensei too when we used to go to the academy." Naruto said and grinned again. "Really?" I asked him. He nodded and started to tell me about some of the pranks he made when he was at the academy. It made me laugh and feel better.


	4. Chapter 4: Graduating from the academy

**Chapter 4: Graduating from the academy, finally!**

Six months has passed since I started at the academy and if I have to say so myself, I have become really good. I'm already at the top of my class. But okay, I've gotten a lot of help from my dear brother and my cousin. I just finished writing down some notes when Iruka announced that the class was over and we were free to take a break. I packed my things, got up from the chair and went towards the door to go outside and get some fresh air. "Wait Keichi. I have something to tell you." I turned around and looked at Iruka. "What is it Iruka-sensei?"

"Come here." He said and smiled at me. I walked over to his desk and looked at him as he sat down on his chair. "Look, you are really powerful and you have control over the basics, so… Tsunade and I have been talking a bit and we think it's time for you to get out of here and graduate as a genin, what do you say?" I smiled brightly and nodded. "I would love to! But how do I do it?"

"Normally you would have to pass a test, but you have showed me, here in class, that you are able to pass any test we could come up with. Tsunade-sama seems to agree with me on this, so I'll just give you your forehead protector." Iruka said with a smile and started to look in one of the drawers in the desk. I just stood there and waited for my forehead protector. I can't believe that I'm finally going to get away from the small kids! It's going to be so good! Iruka found the forehead protector and handed it to me. "There you go Keichi. Congratulations, you're now a genin. Take care of yourself." He said and smiled lightly at me. I took the forehead protector and looked at it with proud eyes. I can't wait to show this to the others! I tied it around my neck as I went towards the door and hide it behind my scarf, so I could surprise the others with it. "Oh, just one more thing Keichi." I stopped up and turned around to look at Iruka. "Yes?"

"Be here tomorrow at 10:00 am to meet your new sensei." I nodded understanding and rushed out of the classroom and headed home so I could show the forehead protector to Kiba.

As I came home, I searched through every room in the house but I just couldn't find Kiba anywhere. I went to the kitchen and looked at Tsume. "Do you know where Kiba is?" Tsume looked at me and studied me. She probably noticed my really happy face. "He's at the training field along with the others… Why are you so happy?" I smiled brightly and pulled a bit down in my scarf to reveal the forehead protector. Tsume looked at it and smiled. "Congratulations dear. Let's celebrate it with your favorite dish tonight. What would you like to eat?"

"Hmm… uh, I know. I want the chicken and coconut milk thing you make, it's so amazing! But I have to go now, I want to show this to Kiba and the others!" I hide the forehead protector again as I ran out of the house and headed for the training field. Now I can finally train with them instead of sitting on the sideline and watch them train. As I reached the training field I could see the others were training, so I just sat down on my usual spot and waited for them to notice me. I sat there for probably twenty minutes before they noticed me and came over to me.

"Keichi, what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at class now?" Kiba asked me and looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "Not anymore." I said and showed them the forehead protector with a big smile plastered on my face. They all looked at the forehead protector with wide eyes and a smile on their lips. "Wow, did you graduate from the academy?" I looked at Sasuke and nodded with a smile. "But it's not time for graduation yet, so how did you?" I got up from my spot, walked over to Kiba and laid an arm around his shoulders. "Iruka-sensei and Tsunade-sama had been talking and they both agreed on that I'm smart and strong enough to graduate, so they passed me."

"Congratulations Keichi. Now you're a genin just like Naruto." Sakura said and giggled. "Yeah, a genin like me… Hey! Did you mean anything bad about that Sakura?!" Naruto asked a bit offended. "Not for her, but for you. We've all passed the chunin exam except from you. You're the only one at our age who's still a genin." Naruto sweat dropped and crossed his arms. "But I was out training with Ero-senin to become stronger!... Wait! Sasuke is a genin as well." He said and looked at Sasuke with a smirk. "Stop looking at me like that Naruto! Just as you have an excuse, I have one as well!"

"My, my. Stop it both of you." I said and giggled. "Listen, I'm going to meet my new sensei tomorrow. Is there something special I have to do?" I asked and looked at everyone. "No. Just be yourself." Sakura said and smiled at me. "If you're going to meet your new sensei tomorrow, we have to do something about your clothes and hair." Ino said, but not in a mean way… I think. "Ino! That was not nice!" Hinata said. I looked at Hinata and bit my lip. "No, she's right. I look like a mess and my clothes aren't that pretty."

"Then what about we girls gave you a makeover?" Ino suggested and smiled. "But I don't have money for that."

"Maybe you don't, but we do." Tenten said and smiled at me. "I can't spend your money… that's just-…" I got cut off by Sakura who put a hand for my mouth. "That's what friends are for. Besides, we think you deserve it." I looked at Sakura and nodded. "Then that's settled. Let's hurry before she change her mind!" Sakura said and grabbed my arm while Tenten grabbed my other arm and they dragged me away. "See you guys later. We're now kidnapping Keichi for the rest of the day." Ino said as they ran away with me. "So what are you planning to do with me?" I asked and looked at the four girls. "First, we're going to the hairdresser to fix your hair and then we're going to get you some new clothes." I didn't get the chance to say something before they dragged me inside to a hairdresser, put me down in a chair and made sure I couldn't look inside a mirror. "Just cut the split ends, give her some bangs and fresh her hair color." Sakura told the hairdresser, who nodded and started to cut my hair. I have to say I was a bit nervous on how I was going to look like, but I trust the girls. I looked over at the girls and noticed that Hinata and Sakura were gone. "Uhm… Where's Sakura and Hinata?"

"They went to buy you some clothes." Ino said and smiled. "But, am I not supposed to be with them? So I can try the clothes on?" Ino shook her head. "It's fine. We already know your size."

"Uhm… okay then." I said and closed my eyes when the hairdresser fixed my bangs.

As we finished at the hairdresser, we went to meet with Sakura and Hinata at Sakura's place. Ino opened the door and dragged me inside along with Tenten. "Sakura! We're here!"

"We're in the bedroom Ino!" Sakura yelled. Ino and Tenten dragged me in there and put me on the bed. "Wow Keichi, your new hair looks good on you."

"Thanks." I said and smiled at Sakura. I haven't even seen my new hair yet. "Ino, blindfold her." Sakura said. I sweat dropped and looked at Ino as she blindfolded me. "Why are you blindfolding me?"

"You can't see your new clothes before you get it on. You have to see the new hair and clothes at the same time."

"O-okay." I could feel that they started to undress me. Luckily there aren't any boys in here, but if there were boys in here, I don't think they would undress me. Hinata removed the blindfold again and smiled at me. "Can I look at myself now?" I asked and looked at the girls. "Not yet. We just need to put a bit make-up on you. Now, close your eyes." Ino said and started to put make-up on me as I closed my eyes. I could feel that she put some eyeshadow on my eyelids and mascara on my eyelashes. "Open your eyes again Keichi." Ino told me, so I did as she said. "Wow… you are really beautiful Keichi." Sakura said and smiled at me.

"Pretty much actually. Every guy in the village will fall for you now." Tenten said and pulled me over to the mirror on the wall. I looked at myself in the mirror and didn't believe my own eyes. "W-wow… is that really me?" I asked and couldn't take my eyes off myself. My hair color had been freshened up, a lot, and my hair had been cut to the middle of my back. And my new clothes look good on me. I'm wearing a pair of short, purple shorts with a pair of black fish-net shorts underneath, which is a bit longer than the shorts. I'm wearing an orange top with a black fish-net shirt underneath it. "I didn't know I could be this pretty."

"Keichi, you're not pretty. You're stunning." Hinata said and smiled lightly. I turned around and looked at the girls with a big smile on my face. "Thank you so much girls." I said and hugged them. "We're glad that you like it. We actually have one more thing for you." Tenten said. I looked at them and tilted my head. "What is it?" Sakura pulled a holster and a pouch out from the bag and gave them to me. "What's this?" I asked and looked at it. "It's a weapon holster with kunais and shurikens and a pouch to things such as scrolls." I nodded understanding and took the holster and the pouch. "Thank you. When I have money, I'll make sure to pay your all back."

"You don't have to pay us back. It's from us to you as a present for graduating the academy so fast." Ino said and smiled. "Okay, thank you girls." I said and looked at the time. "Yikes! Dinner is served in about fifteen minutes. I better get home."

"Okay, see you later. Don't forget the bags with your clothes." Sakura said and gave me the bags. "Thanks. See you girls later." I said and left. I started to run home as soon as I got outside.

When I arrived at home and walked inside, I was met with the wonderful smell of dinner. "I'm home! I'm going to Kiba's room!" I said and went to my room first, put the bags down and went to Kiba's room just to find him sleeping on his bed. I laughed lightly and jumped on Kiba's bed, making him wake up with a shock and almost fall off the bed. "Dear god! Never do that aga-… Who are you?" Kiba asked with a raised eyebrow and looked me up and down. I giggled at him and shook my head. "Don't tell me you don't recognize me. You saw me like six hours ago." Kiba moved closer to me to get a better look. His eyes widened as he probably realized who I was. "Oh my god! Keichi, is that you?"

I nodded with a smiled as I got off the bed and took a spin to show Kiba the full makeover. I looked at Kiba, who were looking at me with wide eyes and his jaw dropped. "Say something! Don't sit there and look at me like that!" Kiba shook his head to gain his senses. "Sorry, it's just that you look stunning." I blushed a bit but smiled. "Well thank you." I said and sat back down on the bed. "Those girls a good at makeovers. We seriously thought you would be gone forever since you never came back to the training field." I laughed at what Kiba said and laid down. "Easy now. They only made a makeover. They didn't eat me." Kiba smiled and chuckled. "True."

"Dinner is ready!" Tsume yelled from the kitchen. Kiba and I got off the bed and went to the kitchen to Tsume and Hana. They both looked at me with wide eyes. "Wow Keichi. You look so different, but in a good way. Now I can really see that you look like my brother." Tsume said and smiled lightly. "Thank you." I said with a smile and sat down.


	5. Chapter 5: Meeting the new sensei

**Chapter 5: Meeting the new sensei and team.**

I had just finished getting ready to go to the academy to meet my new sensei, so I left the house and went to the academy as Iruka-sensei told me to. I waited in the classroom for about two hours and my new sensei hasn't showed up yet. Has he forgotten about me? He should have been here two hours ago to pick me up. I sighed as I laid down on the tables to relax, but accidently ended up falling asleep. As I heard the door to the classroom being opened, I woke up again and looked at the time. Two hours! I've been sleeping for two hours! That means my sensei is four hours late! What the hell?! I seriously hope it's him who opened the door!

I looked over at the door and saw a man in the usual Konoha ninja outfit. His hair was silver and spiky. He was wearing a mask that covered the half of his face and his forehead protector was covering his left eye. "Are you Keichi?" I sat up and nodded, not taking my eyes of this ninja in front of me. "Come with me then." He said and just left the room. What the? I got down from the table I was sitting on and followed the ninja outside and out of the academy.

We were heading for the training field. I know the way there since I've been watching Sasuke, Kiba, Naruto and the others train almost a hundred times, if not more. This man is seriously weird. He didn't apologize for being four hours late and he hasn't even introduced himself yet. What kind of person is he? I went up next to him and looked up at him. "You know, it's rude not to introduce yourself to new people. Especially when you're going to spend a lot of time with them." I said and raised my eyebrow a bit. He glanced down at me without lowering his head. "Sorry. My name is Hatake Kakashi. I'm your new sensei."

"Mhm. I figured as much." I said and looked straight ahead again. I could see the training field, but no one was there. "I thought we were supposed to be a three-man cell. Not just me." I crossed my arms and looked back at my so called sensei. "We are. The others are waiting somewhere else on the training field." Kakashi said, not looking at me. "Fine, fine." I said and just followed Kakashi. I looked down at the ground until I heard a voice I knew too well. "Kakashi-sensei! You're four hours late!" I looked at the person who yelled and smiled when I saw it was Naruto. My smile got wider as I saw Sasuke standing next to him. "My, my. An old lady needed my help with her groceries and then I had to pick up our newest member of them team."

"LIES!" Naruto and Sasuke yelled in unison. Kakashi sweat dropped and scratched the back of his head. "That aside, say hello to-…" I cut Kakashi-sensei off mid-sentence. "Sasuke? Naruto? Are you two going to be my teammates?" I asked and looked at them, wondering if they could recognize me after my make-over. They both raised their eyebrows and took a close look at me, but they didn't seem to recognize me the slightest. "You know them Keichi?" Kakashi asked me and looked at the three of us. "Yeah I do." I said and kept looking at Naruto and Sasuke. Their eyes widened. "Keichi! Is that you?!" They both asked surprised in unison. I couldn't help it but laugh at their reaction and nodded. "Yup! This is the new me." Naruto's jaw dropped and a bit of drool was at the corner of his mouth. I blushed faintly and giggled at him. Sasuke shook his head and closed Naruto's mouth for him. "Dry your mouth, you're drooling." Naruto dried his mouth in his sleeve and mumbled something I didn't hear."It's okay brother, I take it as a compliment." I said and smiled. "Brother? Is Sasuke your brother?" I looked at Kakashi and nodded. "Yes he is."

"That means you're an Uchiha?" I once again nodded and smiled lightly. "I see. Can I speak now, without getting interrupted by any of you?"

"Of course." I said and leaned against a tree. "Good. Now, I know that Tsunade-sama and Iruka didn't want to test you before they decided to graduate you from the academy, but I'll test you anyways. I want to make sure they made the right decision." I nodded understanding and looked at Kakashi as he reached for something in his pocket. "You see this bell? If you can take it from me within three hours, I'll pass you."

"What?! Three hours?! We got six hours when we graduated from the academy!." Naruto complained to Kakashi, as if it was him who had to do the test. Kakashi looked at him and sighed. "I'm aware of that Naruto. But you, Sasuke and Sakura didn't graduate like Keichi did. In the middle of the year and without being tested. I want to see how strong she is." Kakashi looked at me again. "Since Naruto and Sasuke already passed this test about four years ago, they'll just have to watch, understood?" I nodded understanding and took a step away from the tree. "You can use all the jutsus you want. Nothing is forbidden. And… Begin!" Kakashi said and disappeared into thin air. I stood still and closed my eyes to locate his position, but my concentration got interrupted by Naruto's whispering. "Why isn't she moving?"

"Shh, be quiet!" I said and disappeared into thin air as Kakashi did just barely a minute ago. I had located him. He was sitting on a thick branch, high up in a tree and hiding behind the leaves. I was sitting silently above him. I had covered my chakra the second I disappeared from the ground, so he won't be able to notice me. Unless I rustle with the leaves. I looked down at him to observe him, so I could decide the right moment to attack him. He leaned back against the tree and took out a book from his pouch. A book?! What the?! Seriously! He's testing me and then he just starts to read! He's underestimating me big time! And he's going to regret that! Before Kakashi even got the chance to look up, I jumped down on him and held a kunai from his throat. "Where did you come from?!" He asked surprised.

"If you don't know, you shouldn't know." Kakashi chuckled, a bit amused maybe and put the book down. "You're a bit cocky, aren't you?" His voice sounded behind me as I felt the tip of a kunai against my back. I looked behind me with a carefree look on my face. "So this was just a clone? Thought so. That makes you the real one." I smirked as I disappeared in a smoke screen. "A clone." Kakashi said and looked around. "You're damn right about that." I, or rather another of my clones, threw a middle size branch after him, which he dodged by jumping back. I jumped at him from behind. I kicked his shoulder and send him right into a tree. He fell down and landed on the ground. I jumped down and landed next to him. He looked up at me. "You still have two hours and fifty minutes le-…" I cut him off when I held the bell in my hand. "So, did I pass sensei?" I asked and smirked a bit by the fast victory. Kakashi stared at the bell in my hand with a surprised look on his face. "Yes, you indeed pass. I now see the reason why Tsunade-sama and Iruka didn't test you."

"Mhm. You underestimated me sensei."

"I'm afraid I did so." Kakashi admitted and got up from the ground. I gave him the bell back and looked over at Sasuke and Naruto. They were both sitting on the ground with their jaws dropped and eyes wide open. "How on earth did you do it so fast?" Naruto asked in shock and surprise. "I listened, pin pointed his location and did my best. And the fact that he underestimated me gave me an advantage." Naruto and Sasuke got up from the ground. "Still, that was pretty fast. You're really skilled." Sasuke said and laid an arm over my shoulders. I looked at him and smiled. "Well thank you brother."

"No problem sis." He smiled at me and messed with my hair. I giggled and grabbed his hands. "Not the hair~" I complained and fixed my hair again. "Keichi." I looked at Kakashi as he said my name. "Yes sensei?" He walked over to me and looked at me. "Welcome to the team." He smiled behind his mask and reached his hand out for me to shake it. I grabbed his hand, shook it and smiled. "Thanks sensei."

"Let's celebrate it with some ramen!" Naruto suggested. I looked at him and giggled, he was grinning big. "Sure, why not. But you pay for all of us." I said teasing. Naruto looked like he was going to die. "Eeehh! I don't have money for that!" I laughed and clapped his shoulder. "Easy now Naruto. I was just kidding." He sweat dropped and sighed in relief. "Thank god!"

"I know you don't have much money, so I can pay for yours sis." I looked at Sasuke and smiled brightly as I hugged him. "Thank you Sasuke!" He chuckled and hugged me back. "You're welcome sis. Now, let's go. Naruto already left." I looked to my left and saw dust in the air. I think that he ran off to Ichiraku's ramen shop. "My, my. He really loves ramen, doesn't he?"

"You have no idea how much." Kakashi said and chuckled amused as the three of us followed Naruto, but in a normal walking pace.


	6. Chapter 6: The first sign of love

**Chapter 6: The first sign of love**

A month has passed since I joined Sasuke and Naruto's team. My skills as ninja has improved day by day and they still do. I'm almost sure that I have already surpassed my brother and Naruto. Mostly because I have saved their asses eight times on missions this month. We're actually on our way home from a mission where I saved their asses and they don't seem to be satisfied about it. "And once again I had to save your asses." I looked at them with a slightly raised eyebrow. "Uhm, uh… yeah. Thank you Keichi." Naruto said and smiled sheepishly. "She didn't had to save our asses if you didn't screw it up all the time Naruto!" Sasuke said with a twist of anger and annoyance in his voice. "SAY WHAT?! I only tried something!"

"You have 'tried' something on the last eight missions!" I looked at Kakashi who was watching Naruto and Sasuke arguing. "Hey, hey, hey. Calm down you two. Let's just say it is nobody's fault and be friends, okay?" Kakashi said. "Sure, we could do that… But it would be wrong since it IS Naruto's fault!"

"Say that again one more time duck-butt!" Sasuke's eye twitched. "It is your fault!" I shook my head and looked at Kakashi. "Sometimes I wonder how on earth Sakura could take this." Kakashi sighed and looked at me. "She couldn't. She used to… well… She used to hit Naruto." I nodded understanding and looked back at Sasuke and Naruto, who had gone into a fist fight. I sweat dropped and sighed. "Dear god." I walked over to them and hit both of them hard on top of their heads. They both fell on their butts and rubbed their heads while looking at me. "Hey! What was that for sis?" I looked at Sasuke with a raised eyebrow and crossed my arms. "Stop fighting each other! We're on the same team here!"

"But-…" I cut Sasuke off. "No buts! From now on, if you two fight each other I will hit both of you, got it?" They both looked a bit scared at me and slowly nodded. "Yes ma'am!" Naruto said. I looked at him and noticed he was blushing a bit, probably from embarrassment. He actually looks cute when he blush. In fact, he's not that bad looking at all. I felt a faint blush sneak up on my cheeks as I thought of how cute Naruto actually was. Naruto looked at me and tilted his head a bit to the left. "Keichi, why are you blushing?" I turned around as I felt the blush intense a bit. "Uhm… uh, nothing! It's nothing… Let's get back to the village. I'm tired and exhausted." I looked straight ahead and tried to shake the blush off of me. "Hey, I can see the village! Let's get moving!" I smiled and started to run back to the village. "Hey! Wait on us Keichi!" Sasuke shouted. He and Naruto got up from the ground and ran after me along with Kakashi.

A week has passed since we came back to Konoha from our mission and the minute we entered the village we saw people working hard decorating the streets. I found a poster on a wall, advertising that Konoha One Week Festival was about to begin. It started three days ago and I'm currently preparing for one of the contests. There are some different contests like some kind of beauty pageant, a singing contest, dancing contest and some other different contests. I want to try the singing contest. It's actually just a bit like singing karaoke. The only difference is that you have to be good at singing otherwise you'll make a fool out of yourself.

I know I can sing, that's why I'm entering the contest. No one of the others knows that I'm entering though. I want to keep it a secret and make it a surprise. I've already chosen the song, which I did two days ago since the contest is tonight. I'm sitting on my bed and practicing the song as low as possible. It would be bad if Kiba heard me singing. I heard a knock on the door and stopped singing and looked towards the door. "Come in." The door opened and Kiba entered my room. "Hey Kei. What are you doing?" I smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of my head. "Uhm… nothing. Just relaxing… why?"

"I passed your room and heard you sing, I think. Were you singing?" I giggled lightly and shook my head. "My, my. You must be imagining things Kiba. Why would I sing?"

"I don't know, that's why I'm asking you."

"Well, I'm not singing." I smiled, still a bit sheepishly. "Okay. Are you soon ready to go? We're going to meet the others in an hour." I nodded while I got off my bed. I walked over to Kiba and gently pushed him out. He raised an eyebrow and looked at me. "You're acting weird Kei."

"What? Am not! I just need to be done and I don't want you to watch me while I change."

"… Touché." He chuckled and went to his own room. I closed the door and sighed. Dear god that was close! Now I have to change otherwise he will be suspicious. I went to my closet and changed my clothes from pants and a top to a pair of black leggings, a pair of red short shorts, a long top, a cardigan and put my hair in a loose ponytail. I sat down on the bed and continued to practice.

We all took a seat around a table close to the stage where the singing contest is being held. I figured I had to sneak away soon, since the contest is beginning in less than five minutes. "I have to go guys, I'll be back soon." I got up from the chair and was about to leave when someone grabbed my wrist. I turned around and saw it was Sasuke. "What?" I asked and smiled. "Where are you going?"

"Eeh… I'm just going to the restroom." Sasuke nodded and let go of my wrist. I left the others and made sure they couldn't see me when I went behind the stage to get ready. I looked at the host as he walked out on the stage to start the contests and present the first one to sing. I was number twelve, the last one, so I had to wait some time before it was my turn. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the singing contest. I hope you'll all welcome our contestants with great applauses. Let's get the first contestant out here. Shun, step out please." I looked at the guy named Shun as he walked out on the stage. He looked like he was a bit older than me. Shun started to sing and I prepared for when it was my turn to go on stage.

When contestant number eleven went back stage I just waited for the host to tell me to come forth. "And now for the last contestant, number twelve. Keichi." I stepped out on the stage and looked down at Sasuke, Kiba, Naruto and the others. I couldn't help it but giggle a bit of their face expressions when they saw me enter the stage. Their eyes were wide open and their jaw dropped almost to the ground. The music started and I began to sing. (Boa – I'll eat you up). While I was singing, I time to time looked down at Naruto, but I then quickly looked away again.

As I finished singing the song we all waited at least ten minutes before the winner of the contests was being announced. I looked at the host as he stepped back out on stage with a piece of paper. It probably has the winners name on it. "Hello again ladies and gentlemen. Why don't we get all of the contestants out here on the stage so we can announce the winner?" The twelve of us went out on the stage and stood in a line, facing the audience. We all looked at the host as he opened the paper he was holding. "And the winner is Keichi!" I smiled brightly and stepped forward. The host came over to me and gave me a small trophy in silver, formed as a microphone. "Congratulations Keichi!" The host said and smiled. I smiled back and walked down from the stage and walked back to the others. "Uhm… Hey guys." I said and smiled sheepishly at them. They all just looked surprised and shocked at me. "Kei… Why didn't you tell us you could sing? That was amazing!" Sasuke said and got up to give me a hug. I hugged back and giggled. "I wanted it to be a surprise, that's why."

"So you were singing earlier today when I passed your room?" I looked at Kiba and nodded. "I was. I wanted to keep it a surprise, so I had to lie to you. Sorry." Kiba just smiled. "It's okay, don't think about it. It didn't harm anyone." I nodded understanding and smiled brightly. The others got up from the chairs and we just walked around in the streets of Konoha until late.


	7. Chapter 7: The mission goes to Suna

**Chapter 7: The mission goes to Sunagakure (Part 1)**

I groaned and pulled the blanket over my head as Tsume shook me. "You have to wake up Keichi. Kakashi is here." I slowly pulled the blanket beneath my eyes and looked at my alarm clock. "Are you kidding me? The time is 6:30 am."

"Unfortunately yes. You have to meet him at the main gate in thirty minutes." Tsume said. I sighed and sat up in the bed. "Fine, fine. I'll get ready." Tsume nodded and left my room again. Unwillingly, I got out of the bed and made my way to the bathroom to quickly wash myself. Seriously? A mission this early? Kakashi-sensei must be out of his mind! I wonder if Naruto and Sasuke is up yet. If I know those two right, they are having a hard time getting up this early. I went back to my room and got dressed in my ninja outfit, which consisted of a pair of blue knee-length shorts, a black long top and a green fish-net shirt underneath.

I put on my weapon holster on my right thigh and while I packed my backpack I looked at the trophy I won at the festival. I can't believe it's two weeks ago already. Time passes so fast. I put my hair in a ponytail as I left my room with my backpack on my back. Maybe I should go and say goodbye to Kiba before I go? Yeah, I'll do that. I went to Kiba's room and found him sleeping halfway off the bed. I smirked as I got an idea.

"Hey! Wake up sleepy head! The time is 11:00 am already!" He woke up instantly and fell off the bed, landing on the floor with his butt first. He looked at his alarm clock and then back at me. "You moron! It's only 6:55 am!" I giggled and watched him as he climbed back on the bed. "Sorry, but I had to get your attention somehow. I want to say goodbye to you." Kiba looked at me once he got back on the bed. "Are you going on a mission now?" I gave a single nod and sat on Kiba's bed. "Damn. Kakashi-sensei is insane! Well, bye Kei. Be careful." He sat up and gave me a hug. I hugged back and smiled. "You know I'm always careful Kiba."

"I know. I still wanna tell you though." I giggled at Kiba and got off the bed again. "See you when I get home." Kiba nodded and laid back down to sleep. I left the house and went to the main gate where I was supposed to meet with Kakashi, Naruto and Sasuke. As I arrived, I saw Naruto leaning against the wall of the gate, fighting to keep his eyes open. "Morning everyone. You look tired Naruto." He looked over at me with extremely tired eyes. "Can I get your attention for a moment?" The three of us looked at Kakashi-sensei. "We are going to Sunagakure to help out. We are going to team up with Gaara and his siblings."

"Is Gaara in trouble?" Naruto asked. "We don't know what the mission is about yet. Gaara just asked for our help." Naruto suddenly seemed like he got pumped up with energy. "Let's get going!" He yelled and almost ran out of the village. Sasuke sighed. "That idiot is going to leave us behind." I giggled and looked at Sasuke. "He is if we don't start running."

"Agreed." Sasuke said. Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke and I began to run after Naruto and caught up to him in no time.

We arrived in Sunagakure two days later around 9:30 pm without any problems. As we entered the village I saw a guy with face painting on his face and he carried something on his back. t looked like three big scrolls. "Naruto. So the hokage send you." The guy said as he looked at Naruto. "Yeah. Are you here to take us to Gaara?"

"Yeah. Come with me. I'll take you to him and Temari." Kankuro said and began to walk, us following behind him. I looked around in the village as we walked on the street. It was my first time in Sunagakure and it was so much different from Konoha. This village consists more or less of sand only. But okay, the village is located in the desert. Kankuro opened the door to a house and let us walk in first.

We took our shoes off and then Kankuro led us to the living room. A guy with red hair and the kanji symbol for love over his left eye was sitting on the couch. Next to him was a blonde haired girl, who had her hair in four small, spiky buns. They both looked over at us as we entered the living room. "Hey. Glad you could come." The red haired guy said. "Hey Gaara. What's the mission about?" Naruto asked the red haired guy, whose name apparently was Gaara. "Some confidential scrolls have been stolen from the village a few days ago. The elders want us to find them immediately."

"Do you know where the scrolls are now?" Kakashi-sensei asked. Gaara nodded. "They are in Otogakure." My eyes widened drastically when he said the scrolls are in Otogakure. "I am NOT going back to that place!" They all looked at me, surprised that I suddenly spoke up like that. "Who is she? I haven't seen her before." Gaara said and looked at me with examining eyes. "She's the newest member of the team. And she's Sasuke's sister." Naruto said. Gaara looked at Naruto with a raised eyebrow. "What?" Naruto sighed and began to explain everything to Gaara.

How they found me, how we found out I'm Sasuke's sister and how I became a ninja. "I see… But we have to go to Otogakure no matter what. No exceptions." Gaara said and looked back at me. "If you used to live there, you know the village. It's for our advantage." I sighed and nodded agreeing, even though I didn't like it. But Gaara was right. It was to our advantage that I know the village, but I seriously don't want to go back to that awful place. I turned my head and looked at Sasuke as he placed a hand on my shoulder. "I'm going to protect you sis, no matter what." I gave a single nod and bite the inner side of my lip. "I'll protect you too Keichi! You can count on that!" Naruto said and grinned big. I looked at him and smiled. "Thank you Naruto." I couldn't help it but blush just a bit. He wanted to protect me along with my brother. "When do we leave Suna?" Kakashi-sensei asked. "Early in the morning. It is highly important that we get those scrolls back as fast as possible."

"Okay. My team and I will check in at a hotel and then we can meet at the gate at-…" Kakashi-sensei was cut off by Gaara. "You can all stay here. It's easier that way. I suggest we all go to bed now, get some sleep and then we leave tomorrow at 7:00 am." We all nodded understanding and went to bed to sleep.

It took us about two and a half day to get to Otogakure, which means the time is around 8:00 pm. I didn't want to be recognized, so I covered the half of my face with the scarf I was wearing. We walked down a street to look for a place to stay. We found a hotel and checked in there to stay for the night. Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke Naruto and I shared a room and Gaara, Temari and Kankuro shared a room. We entered our rooms and looked around. Two single beds were standing next to the window. "Only two beds?!" Naruto exclaimed and almost panicked. I shook my head at him and sighed. "No." I walked over to a door and opened it. Another two beds was standing in there. Naruto sighed in relief. "Good. Who sleeps in that room and who sleeps out here?" He asked and looked around. "I say you take one of the beds out here. You three guys sleep out here and I take the room."

"Why do you get the room?" Sasuke asked and looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "I'm a girl. I need my privacy. I don't need any of you to look at me while I'm changing or anything."

"… Touché." I giggled at my brother and shook my head. "Go take one of the beds out of there then. I want to sleep soon." Sasuke nodded understanding and dragged Naruto with him inside the separate room. "Hey! What the hell are you doing Sasuke?!"

"I need your help to get one of the beds out of here." Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Oh… yeah." I shook my head at them and went inside my room as they got the bed out. I sat down on the bed and looked out the window, thinking of when I used to live in this village. It was weird being back from where I ran away from, and it sure wasn't fun to be back. "Keichi…" I turned around and looked at Kakashi-sensei standing in the doorway. "Yes sensei?"

"Gaara, Temari and Kankuro are here to talk about the mission. Are you coming?" I nodded understanding and slowly got off the bed. "Are you okay Keichi? I haven't seen you like this before. Plus, you're still wearing your scarf." I looked at Kakashi-sensei and then at my scarf. "Oh… I'm fine. I just don't like being here."

"I see. Let's go out to the others and go through the mission." I nodded while walking out of the room with Kakashi-sensei. The others was sitting around a map on the floor, only waiting for me and Kakashi-sensei. I sat down next to my brother and looked at Gaara as he began to talk. "Okay, now we're all here let's discuss a plan. But first. We don't know the exact position of the stolen scrolls, but they should be somewhere around this area." He pointed at a clan area on the map. My eyes widened. I knew that area way too good. "I say we go there early in the morni-…" I cut Gaara off.

I know that area so I know when it's best to go. "It's best if we go there when the sun has set and it's completely dark." They all looked a bit surprised at me when I suddenly spoke up like that, cutting Gaara off. "Why do you think it's best to go there when it's dark? It's obviously best to go there while we can see our enemy. No offense but, you're only a genin. Let the more professional ninjas decide this." My eye twitched when he said that. How dare he underestimate me like that?! I got up from the floor and looked mad at Gaara. "I know it because I used to live at exactly that area! And just because I'm a genin doesn't mean I'm not smart! Don't underestimate me!" I stomped inside my room, slammed the door behind me and sat down on the bed, my back facing the door. I heard the door being opened, very carefully. "What do you want?!" I didn't care to look who it was. "We need you at the planning Keichi. Please come back out here."

"No!" I heard the person getting closer to the bed and put his hand on my shoulder. "Come on. Gaara didn't mean it that way he-…" I grabbed the persons wrist in anger and accidently twisted it. I didn't want anyone to touch me at the moment. "Ouch! What the hell did you do that for?! I didn't do anything to you!" I turned around to yell at the person who was in my room, but when I saw who it was, I regretted it so badly that I had twisted his wrist. "Oh my god… Naruto, I'm so, so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"Oh yeah I can feel that… Maybe I should just go get Sasuke instead. At least you won't hurt your own brother." Naruto left the room before I got the chance to say anything. I laid down on the bed, my face down in the pillow. I hurt him! I hurt Naruto! Why the hell did I hurt him, the one I like? I'm so stupid! I once again heard the door being opened and seconds later I felt someone sitting on the bed. "Are you alright sis?" It was Sasuke. I sat up in the bed and looked at him. He looked me in the eyes and by his face expression, I guess he noticed the tears in my eyes. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"I… I hurt Naruto… I-I didn't mean to do that." Sasuke pulled me in to him and hugged me comforting. "It's okay. I know you didn't mean to."

"B-but he think I did it on purpose… Why did I hurt someone I li-… one of my friends?" Sasuke looked at me as he kept comforting me. "Calm down okay? He won't be mad at you forever. Now, come back out with me. We need your knowledge about that area to form a plan." I nodded slightly and wiped away the tears. We both got off the bed and walked back out to the others to continue the planning.


	8. Chapter 8: Seeing the light

**Chapter 8: Seeing the light**

At 9:00 pm the next day we went to where the stolen scrolls should be located, in the Bokai clan area, where I used to live. I have to say that I'm not much for going back here, but I don't have a choice since I'm on a mission. We were hide behind some bushes outside of the clan area. Kakashi-sensei and Gaara had given me the job to lead us inside the clan area, since I know it so well. I took a deep breath and looked at everyone. "Okay, listen carefully now, all of you. The Bokai clan is a very strong and dangerous clan. The headmaster of the clan was the man who found me and adopted me. He's not only the most powerful man in the clan, he's also the leader of the Bokai gang, who terror small towns and destroys families. The gang members control the entrance to the clan area and they are NOT stupid. So beware and don't do anything stupid. Just do as I do."

They all nodded agreeing and waited for my move. I took a deep breath and silently moved to the back of the clan area, the others following me. I stopped up and looked around. "What are you looking for Keichi?" Sasuke asked me in a whisper. "Something…" I was looking for the escape route I used when I ran away from the clan. I found it and moved away some bushes and rocks. A small tunnel was forming. "Quickly, get in." They all entered the cave and I went inside as the last one and covered the cave again with the bushes and rocks.

I began to move forward again and led everyone through the tunnel. I stopped up as we reached the end. "Keichi, how did you know the tunnel was here? It doesn't seem like the Bokai's knows of it." Kakashi-sensei whispered. I looked at him and shook my head. "They don't. I discovered it by an accident when I was playing around by myself. I used it when I ran away." I pulled my scarf up, hiding my face and moved some branches, leading everyone through a lot of bushes. We were out of the tunnel and were now inside the clan area. I moved around in the shadows, to prevent the clan members, or even worse the gang members, to notice us. I signaled the others to stop up while I moved towards a barn-like house.

It was there the Bokai gang stored things they stole from other people, towns and villages. As I didn't see any clan or gang members around, I signaled the others to come forward and while they came up to me, I looked inside the house through a hole. I wanted to be sure that no one was in there when I opened the door. To our luck, no one was in there tonight, so I opened the door and we all quickly ran inside. I switched on some light and looked around in the house. This is the first time I'm in here. I was never allowed to go in here when I lived in the clan. Hundreds and hundreds of scrolls, weapons and other stolen things was in here. I looked at Gaara, Temari and Kankuro. "Find your scrolls, quickly, before they know we are here."

They nodded and began looking for their scrolls while I was guarding the door. I was crossing my fingers, hoping that neither the clan nor the gang knew that we were here. The last thing I wanted right now was to run into anyone from the clan or the gang. I left the clan, the village for a reason. "We found them!" I turned around and looked at Gaara when he spoke up. "Good. Then let's get out of here!" I switched off the light again and we all left the house. "That was pretty easy." Kankuro said and smiled a bit in victory. "Oh, you think so?" A voice said behind us. I stiffened and began to feel scared as I recognized the voice. I turned around, slowly, and looked at the person who had spoken. It was one of the headmaster's son's, but it wasn't just any of them. Of course it has to be the strongest of them, Baichi. He wasn't alone. He had brought some of the gang members with him. "Who are you and what are you doing with our scrolls?" Baichi asked and looked at us with narrowed eyes. Gaara took a step forward. "We are taking back the scrolls you took from us."

"I see. So that's what you're doing. Don't you know who we are?"

"We know who you are. You're from the Bokai clan."

"Good for you. Then you should know how powerful we are!" Baichi and the gang attacked us without any sign of warning. Luckily for us that Gaara's sand protected us from their first attack, but more and more gang members joined the fight. "Gaara, you can't protect us all. We have to fight." I said in a bit commanding tone. He nodded understanding and let his sand down. We all took a fighting stance and prepared to fight. Sasuke activated his sharingan just in time as a gang member charged at him. We were outnumbered, no doubt about that. Seven of us against sixteen of them. I had just killed one of the gang members when I felt a presence behind me. I heard the sound of knuckles cracking and jumped up in the air. I looked down and noticed that I had dodged Baichi's fist. "Why are you covering your face with that scarf? Got something to hide?" He asked in an almost teasing I know him well, he's enjoying this.

"It's none of your business Bai-…" I cut myself off before I said his name out loud. It would be bad if he knew it was me. Before I could react, he was behind me again, holding my hands on my back as he removed my scarf. He looked closely at me as if he couldn't' recognize me, which doesn't surprise me since I got the make-over from the other girls back in Konoha. His eyes widened when he looked me in the eyes. "Keichi?!" he seemed to be in a bit of a shock that he realized it was me. "What are you doing? Why did you run away from your home?" I took the chance to get out of Baichi's grip, while he was in a shocked and surprised state to see me here. "I didn't run away from my home. I ran away from hell. I came back to my real home, where I was born!" Baichi seemed to be looking at my forehead protector, which was around my neck. "Konoha? You've got to be kidding me. Why did you run to that place? You know that Konoha is Otogakure's enemy village."

"So what? Konoha was the village I was born in! I feel like I'm home there! I never felt at home here, and you guys never made me feel like home!" Baichi's eye twitched. He was probably pissed off from what I said. I don't care though. It's the truth. They never made me feel like this was my home, never! Baichi ran at me and attacked me with plain taijutsu. Is he holding back? But why should he hold back? I'm his enemy now. I just did what I could do, fight back. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of letting him hit me. Baichi suddenly jumped away from me and stood on the roof of the barn-like house and looked down at everyone.

"Gang members!" Everyone stopped fighting for a moment and looked up at Baichi. "Look who has come to pay us a little visit. Keichi." He said and pointed at me. "She is now a Konoha ninja, which means she's an enemy. Show no mercy at all!" The gang members were fighting with a new strength, like they had gotten stronger that they knew I was here, but as an enemy. I noticed that Baichi was looking very annoyed at Gaara. He was probably annoyed by his sand, cause he was making the hand seals for a jutsu I knew too well. It was a jutsu Baichi could use, which can penetrate anything, even Gaara's sand. "Raiton: Inazuma yari no shi no jutsu!" I saw the deadly jutsu form in Baichi's hand as a spear made of lightning. He threw the lightning spear towards Gaara with such force that it was almost impossible to see it.

I manage to get in front of Gaara just as the lightning spear reached him, but it hit me instead. The moment the lightning spear touched my body, I felt a strong and unbearable pain shoot through my entire body, like it was tearing me up from inside out. I let out a loud scream in pain and collapsed on the ground. Sasuke, Naruto and Kakashi-sensei gathered around me as I laid there on the ground in a fetal position, holding around my stomach and trembling in pain. "Stupid girl! You know how painful and deadly that attack is!" I heard Baichi say in the distance followed by his evil laughter.

I closed my eyes and suddenly stopped screaming as the pain disappeared, but I wasn't okay, not at all. "Keichi?" Sasuke said and shook my gently and my arms let go around my stomach, revealing a huge gap. The gap went all the way through my stomach and out on my back. They could practically see right through me. I was bleeding uncontrollably and had probably already lost almost half of my blood. I slowly opened my eyes as I heard them gasp. "Why… Why Keichi?" Sasuke asked and looked at me. I didn't answer. I just formed a faint smile on my lips. I looked at Gaara as he appeared behind Sasuke. "You… You saved me… but why? You were mad at me." I looked Gaara in the eyes and noticed the sorrow and the confusion.

"T-that doesn't mean… t-that you should suffer from this… j-jutsu… I-I thought we would be able to… b-be friends…" My eyes got incredibly heavy. I couldn't hold them open anymore, so I let them close. I felt the darkness closing in on me. I was dying. I could faintly hear their voices as they spoke. I could hear Sasuke. "I just found her… My sister, who I thought I had lost forever!" He was sad and mad. I could trace it in his voice. I could faintly hear kunais clashing. They must be fighting again. I can still feel someone's presence, cause I could feel the person taking me in his arms. But I can't make out who it is. Who should it be? It's too late to save me now. I've lost too much blood to survive this.

"Why didn't I tell you sooner?... I guess I didn't have the courage to tell you, but now it's too late… If your soul can hear me, I want you to know that I like you, but not as a friend… I like you more than that… I love you." I could faintly feel the person's lips against mine and a tear drop landing on my cheek. He loves me! Whoever it is, he loves me! I'm too much covered in darkness that I can't make out who was talking to me. I was gently put back down on the ground, lying there almost dead. "Stupid, stupid girl. That attack wasn't meant for you! What the hell were you doing, saving someone else's butt? You have always been such an idiot!" It was Baichi. I could feel the hatred in his voice, in his evil laughter. And the fact that he said that the jutsu wasn't meant for me, told me it was him. I could faintly feel him kick my body just as everything went black. I couldn't see or hear anything at all anymore. I was dead. The only thing I could see was my parents. They were smiling warmly at me, waiting for me to join them.


	9. Chapter 9: Losing control

**Chapter 9: Losing control**

I could see my parents and my stepdad. They were at the end of the light waiting for me. They were standing with their arms out, waiting to hug me and welcome me to the afterlife. I was faintly beginning to hear their voices as I got closer to them. "Keichi…" As I finally reached them, all three of them hugged me tight. "Keichi. We've missed you so much."

"I missed you too mom, dad and dad."

"You've become so strong and beautiful." My mother said and smiled. "Thank you mom."

"It would be wonderful if you could stay, but I'm afraid that your time hasn't come yet." I looked at my father and tilted my head. "What do you mean dad?"

"I mean it's not time for you to die yet. You still have a long life in front of you."

"But I'm already dying. I lost over half of my blood." My father just chuckled while my stepdad shook his head. "Listen Keichi." My stepdad said. I listen carefully_. "Why didn't I tell you sooner?... I guess I didn't have the courage to tell you, but now it's too late… If your soul can hear me, I want you to know that I like you, but not as a friend… I like you more than that… I love you."_ My eyes widened slightly. "W-who was that?" I wasn't able to hear who it was. The voice was faint and kept switching between high and low audio. "We don't know. But Keichi. If you shouldn't have noticed, you're being pulled back into life." My mother said. I looked around me and she was right. For some reason, it was like I was being sucked back into life.

My parents and stepdad was getting fainter to look at and I was getting surrounded by some darkness. "Take care Keichi." My mother said. "We watch over you and Sasuke." All three of them said in unison as the darkness was getting brighter. I lost sight of my parents as my hearing came back to me. I felt every cell and muscle in my body getting pumped and filled up with a new energy. I opened my eyes slowly and looked at Baichi. He had turned around and it looked like he was about to go finish off the battle. I wouldn't let that happen! I managed to roll over on my stomach and grab around Baichi's ankle. He stopped in his tracks and looked back at me while I looked up at him. He looked shocked and scared. His eyes were widened. "No! You're supposed to be dead!"

I slowly got on my legs while I coughed a bit of blood and removed it again. "I thought myself… that I was dead… But I'm not." I snapped my head to the right as I heard a piercing scream in pain. Naruto fell to the ground. He was hit by kunais and shurikens in his stomach, making him bleed badly. "No!" Everyone snapped their head towards me and looked at me with a shocked and surprised look on their faces, seeing me standing on my legs when I was actually supposed to be dead. I snapped my head back at Baichi and looked at him with anger. "Your gang members… are killing my friend!" Baichi just laughed evil and looked at me. "That's what happens when you come here uninvited. He is going to die and now I will make sure you die as well."

He grabbed a kunai and swung it at me, but I grabbed his wrist and twisted it, making him drop the kunai to the ground. "Ouch! What the hell!" I tightened my grip around Baichi's wrist. I felt my body becoming stronger, way stronger. My strength and power was hundred folding. I felt like I could do anything. I suddenly began to feel weird. Like something was taking over my body. Something that had a will way stronger than me and I was losing the battle for dominance over my body and mind. My body began to change. My eyes turned yellow, my skin turned blue, my hair blood red and spiky. My teeth grew sharper and pointy and my nails grew longer and shaper as well. The big gap that went through my stomach and out on my back began to heal itself and close.

The thing that had control over my body let go of Baichi's wrist and charged the Bokai gang, who was still fighting the others, with such speed that the naked eye couldn't catch up to it. It used weird jutsus on the gang members, jutsus I had never seen before. It was combinations of the different chakra natures and some other powers like telepathy. In no time, it had killed half of the gang that was at the battle field and badly injured the other half. I don't know why I'm doing this. I have no control over my body whatsoever. It wasn't me who was controlling my body. It was something else. I felt like I was sitting in a dark corner inside my own body, looking at what my body was doing to the gang members.

I have to admit that I always wanted to make them suffer, but not like this. The thing that had control over my body snapped my head towards Baichi and growled as it saw he was trying to run away. It charged something in my hand that was a mixture of a fire and a lightning jutsu. Sparkling lightning surrounded the flame ball that was forming in my hand. It threw the fire-lightning ball at Baichi and the second it hit his back it exploded, making him fly forwards and hit the ground with his face first. It ran up to Baichi and stood in front of him in no time. It looked down at him as it charged the same fire-lightning ball in my hand. It was about to slam the ball down at Baichi when Sasuke suddenly appeared in front of me. "Keichi stop! It's enough!" It looked at Sasuke and snarled at him, showing all the sharp teeth.

It raised my hand and prepared the killing blow on him and he was just standing there. That's it! I will not allow anything or anyone to hurt my brother! Not even me! Even though it's not really me. I began to fight back whatever it was that was having control over my body. It took a step away from Sasuke and began to wiggle around as I did my very best to fight it back. The thing may have a strong will, but my will to not allow my family or friends to get hurt is stronger. I won the battle. My transformation withdrew inside my body, hiding in the corner where I had been sitting, watching it kill half of the gang and injure the other half.

I felt very dizzy from fighting something that was inside myself and fell forwards, going into a half unconscious state while closing my eyes. Sasuke caught me before I hit the ground and took me back to the others. He placed me up against the barn-like building and even though I was half unconscious, I could feel how he was looking at me. "What in the world was that?" Sasuke asked. "I don't know." Kakashi-sensei replied. "It looked like some kind of monster. Just like me and..." It was Gaara, but I didn't hear the last thing he said. I was slowly going out of the half unconscious state and opened my eyes.

I was looking for Naruto. I found him lying about 16 feet away from me and Temari sitting next to him, holding a pressure against the bleeding wounds on his stomach. Naruto was lying in his own blood. He didn't lose as much blood as I did when I got hit by Baichi's lighting spear, but he had still lost a lot. "Kakashi, at this rate Naruto will die." As I heard Temari say that, I forced myself to get up and slowly walked over towards Naruto. I don't know why, but I had a feeling that I could help him somehow. As I reached him I sat down next to him and looked at the wounds on his stomach. The kunais had hit him deep. I put my hands on his stomach and all of a sudden a green aura appeared around my hands.

"Can she heal?" Temari asked and looked up at whoever was standing behind me. "I didn't know Keichi could do that. Did you Sasuke?" Kakashi-sensei asked. "No… I didn't…" Sasuke replied. The shock and surprise was shown in everyone's voices as they were talking about me using healing jutsus. Naruto slowly opened his eyes and looked at me. "Y-you're not… dead…" I shook my head and looked at him. "I-I'm not… But I thought that as well…" As I finished healing Naruto, I fainted and fell over Naruto. I was so exhausted from coming back to life, fighting the thing inside of me and using healing jutsus that I didn't know I could use. Before I went unconscious from exhaustion, I felt Naruto wrap his arms around me and both of us being lifted up in the air, probably by Gaara's sand, and carried away.

I gained my consciousness as I felt someone put me down on something soft. I slowly opened my eyes and tried to figure out where I was, but my sight was a bit blurry. "W-where am I?"

"Shh. Relax Keichi. You're back at the hotel on your bed." It was Sasuke. I could recognize my brother's voice anytime. I nodded understanding and closed my eyes again. "Temari is going to sleep in here with you. In case if something should happen."

"O-okay…" Sasuke kissed my forehead and left the room again. "Do you want me to help you in your pj's?" Temari asked. "Y-yes please… I'm so exhausted that I can't move…"

"Okay then." She helped me out of my dirty and blood covered clothes and helped me in my pj's. I moved my body as much as I could as Temari changed my clothes for me. I felt Temari lie down next to me on the bed and pulled the blanket over me. I didn't feel her lying close to me, so I guess she had brought her own blanket from her room. "You really surprised us all tonight Keichi." Temari said. "I-I did?" I asked, keeping my eyes closed as I replied her. I couldn't open my eyes again of just exhaustion. "You sure did. Of course Gaara, Kankuro and I didn't know of it since we just met you a few days ago. But your team seemed so surprised and shocked of what you did."

"O-oh… I didn't even know that I-I could do that myself."

"You didn't?" I shook my head slightly and thought of what had happened back in the Bokai clan area. "Wow. Maybe you should try and figure out what happened when you get back to Konoha."

"I-I will… T-Temari, can I sleep now? I-I'm so tired…"

"Of course. Goodnight Keichi."

"N-night Temari." It didn't take me long to fall into a deep, deep sleep.


	10. Chapter 10: I-I'm a monster?

**Chapter 10: I-I'm a monster?**

Gaara Temari and Kankuro followed us back to Konoha, because Gaara was carrying me and Naruto on his sand. None of us could walk on our own. Naruto was still badly injured and had lost a lot of blood. I had lost a lot of blood and was in pain from where the gap should be in my stomach. The reason why Temari and Kankuro followed us was in case we would get under attack on the way back. I slightly opened my eyes to look how far away we were from Konoha. I could see the main gate so we were home. As we reached the main gate, Kotetsu and Izumo got up from their seats behind the booth. Kotetsu ran for help and Izumo came to us. "What happened?"

"That's a long story Izumo. Right now we have to get them to the hospital." Kakashi-sensei said. "Sensei!" I could hear it was Sakura who was yelling. I could recognize her voice anytime. "Sensei what happened to Keichi and Naruto?" Sakura asked and looked worried at me and Naruto. "I'll explain later Sakura, right now they both need medical help." Kakashi-sensei said again. Sakura nodded and looked at Gaara. "Follow me Gaara." As Gaara began to follow Sakura to the hospital, I began to feel a bit dizzy and went unconscious.

I woke up after I don't know how many hours, but I kept my eyes close. I don't have the energy to open them. I could hear Sakura and Kakashi-sensei talk to Naruto, so I guess he was awake. I heard the door open in the room I was in, but I didn't know who it was. "Kakashi, Sasuke, Sakura." It was Tsunade-sama's voice. Her loud voice is not to mistake. "Tsunade-sama, what are you doing here?" Sakura asked. "Izumo and Kotetsu told me what happened when they came to end their shift at the main gate, so I decided to come and take a look myself. Naruto, how are you feeling?" Tsunade-sama asked.

"I-I'm feeling very weak. I lost a lot of blood after all." Naruto said and coughed a bit. "I see. Kakashi, tell me what happened at the mission." Kakashi began to explain what happened on the mission. When he told about what happened when we were in the Bokai clan area, he told every single detail of what happened. "Hmm… I see. So it happened already." Tsunade-sama said in a tone that told me she was thinking about something. "What do you mean Tsunade-sama?" Sasuke asked, confusion was traced in his voice. I wondered myself what Tsunade-sama was talking about, so I just listened. "Have you ever heard about the hundred bodied monster? Also known as Hyaku."

"I heard of it when I was a little kid. But I was told it was just a legend." Kakashi-sensei said. "I've read about it in a book about legends." Sakura said. "It's not a legend." Tsunade-sama said. Both Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura seemed confused and surprised, cause they all uttered a 'huh?' at the same time. "What do you mean, it's not a legend?" Sasuke asked rather confused. "Hyaku exists. It's just as real as we are. It's trapped inside a human body just like a tailed beast, but it's different."

"Different how?" Kakashi-sensei asked. I could hear someone taking a seat in a chair, but I don't know who it was. "A tailed beast is sealed inside a human body and can be extracted from the host. Hyaku isn't a tailed beast. It's unknown what Hyaku really is since no one knows Hyaku's real body. It's even unknown if Hyaku is a male or a female. But that aside. Hyaku isn't sealed inside a human body the same way as a tailed beast, it's more like a curse." I have to say that I'm rather confused. What does this Hyaku thing have to do with me? "H-how is it a curse?" Naruto asked curious.

"Thousand years ago, Hyaku walked among us humans and went on random rampages and killings. It destroyed cities, towns and even villages. It was very powerful and no one could stop it. Hyaku's name, the hundred bodied monster, comes by its ability to change its body to match the situation it's in. Every one of Hyaku's bodies has a different ability. Some are weak, fast, can use jutsus unknown to us, have the ability to heal and some are dangerously powerful. One day, about seven-hundred years ago, one man became tired of Hyaku's random rampages, killings and destroying. It's said that this man was some kind of strong wizard and a ninja. He didn't want to live with its terror anymore, so he sealed Hyaku inside his own body and cursed it with some magical words that no one knows of. Hyaku's curse is to live inside a human body for all eternity, but no human live more than a hundred years maximum, so when Hyaku's host dies, it immediately gets transferred inside a newborn baby's body. Hyaku lives there until the new host dies and so it continues. There's no way that Hyaku can be extracted from a human body like a tailed beast, because of the curse that's put on Hyaku. Neither Hyaku or any ninja can break that seal or the curse." Tsunade-sama explained.

Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto and Kakashi-sensei were all silent for a long time. I guess they were stunned and shocked by the story. I still don't see what that Hyaku has anything to do with me. Tsunade-sama continued to explain, since neither Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke, Naruto nor Sakura replied her. "It's not every host of Hyaku who feels its presence. It only shows its presence in special and rare circumstances. No one knows exactly what triggers Hyaku to show its presence, but some think it's the host's feelings other thinks it's the host's body when it's weak. Now, it appears that Keichi is Hyaku's host." Wait what?! I-I have a monster inside my body?!... B-but how? No! That can't be! I-I'm a monster! I felt someone take my hand and squeezed it gently. It was Sasuke. I can feel it the way he holds my hand. And I can feel his chakra. I heard someone walk towards the door, it was probably Tsunade-sama since I could hear the clicking sound from her shoes. "Oh, just one more thing. Naruto and Keichi are NOT allowed to do any missions or training before they have fully recovered. They should both get some rest and relax."

"Y-yes Tsunade-sama." Naruto said, disappointment tracked in his voice. The door opened and Tsunade-sama left the room again. "W-well… t-that explains why Keichi could heal me." Naruto said. He sounded like he was really weak and drawn from energy. "Wait, Keichi healed you?"

"Y-yes she did. I-I was avenging her death, when I thought she was d-dead, and didn't think clearly. T-the gang members hit me with plenty of kunais and shurikens and I lost a lot of blood. S-suddenly Keichi was by my side, healing me."

"Wow, that's incredible. Now I understand how you could survive after losing that much blood." Sakura said. "W-will Keichi be okay?"

"She will. Don't worry Naruto." Sakura said. I decided that maybe it was time that I opened my eyes so I wouldn't worry the others more than necessary. I slowly opened my eyes and looked around at everyone. "Keichi! You're awake!" Sasuke said and hugged me tight, almost squeezing me. "S-Sasuke… Y-you're squeezing me…" I managed to say and he quickly let go of me. "Sorry sis. I'm just glad to see you're awake again." I looked at Sasuke and gave a single nod. Sakura came over to me and began to check on my body.

Naruto and I were released from the hospital after four hours. Kakashi helped Naruto home and Sasuke helped me home, he was carrying me. "Thank you for taking me home Sasuke. You didn't have to." Sasuke looked down at me with a raised eyebrow. "What are you talking about? Of course I have to take you home. You can barely walk."

"True… But I feel like a little girl… useless and weak…" Sasuke stopped up, which made me look up at him. "Don't say that. You're not useless or weak. You're strong and very useful."

"But… What about what happened on the mission?... I acted like a scared little girl the moment I found out we were going to Otogakure."

"Well, I didn't see you acting like a scared little girl. You were shocked and I understand that. We were going to the place you ran away from after all. You hide behind your scarf and I understand that too. You didn't want to be recognized. But that you decided to go to Otogakure, despite knowing it would get dangerous and you could be recognized, tells me that you're brave." I thought about what Sasuke said, and he was somewhat right. It really helped a bit on my mood that he said that. I have been a bit down since I found out that I'm a… monster… "Thank you Sasu." Sasuke smiled lightly and hugged me gently. "You're welcome Kei. Don't doubt on yourself again, okay?"

"Okay. I'll try." Sasuke nodded and began to walk again. As he reached my home, he knocked on the door with his foot, since he was carrying me. The door opened and Hana appeared in the doorway. She looked shocked when she saw me in Sasuke's arms. "What happened to Keichi?"

"It's a long story. Can I put her in her bed? She needs a lot of rest."

"Yeah sure." Hana stepped aside and let Sasuke inside. He carried me to my room and put me down in the bed. Sasuke looked at Hana, who was standing in the doorway. "Where's Tsume?"

"In the kitchen, why?"

"I need to talk to her about something." Sasuke said. He pulled the blanket over me and kissed my forehead. "Get some rest." I nodded and closed my eyes as Sasuke left my room to talk to Tsume. I tried to sleep but I couldn't. I couldn't stop thinking that I'm a monster. That I have a monster inside of me that has hundred different bodies. How could I not have known about this sooner? I was lying in my own thoughts when I heard the door to my room open. I opened my eyes and saw Kiba standing in the doorway. I slowly sat up in the bed. "Hey Kiba."

"Hey Keichi. How are you feeling? Mom said you had to rest." He said as he approached my bed and sat down. I looked at Kiba and told him what happened at the mission. How I was actually supposed to die, how I got sucked back into life, how I transformed into that creature and how I overheard at the hospital that I have a monster inside my body. I looked down as I began to tear up. "I-I'm a monster…" The tears fell from my eyes and landed on the blanket. Kiba moved closer to me and lifted my head, making me look at him. "Who ever told you that you're a monster? No one. They said you have a monster inside of you."

"D-doesn't that make me a monster?" I asked as more tears fell down my cheeks and landed on the blanket. "No it doesn't! Just because you have a monster inside of you, doesn't make you one. Most people in Konoha know that now." I sniffed and looked confused at Kiba. "W-what do you mean?"

"You don't know it?"

"Know what?"

"That Naruto is a jinchuriki." I tilted my head, slightly confused. "What's a jinchuriki?"

"A jinchuriki is a person who has a tailed beast sealed inside of them." I nodded understanding and wiped my tears. "So Naruto is a jinchuriki?"

"Yes he is. Does he look or act like a monster to you?" I shook my head and smiled lightly. Kiba grinned. "That's the face I want to see." I tilted my head a bit to the side and looked at him. "What do you mean?" Kiba chuckled and smiled. "Your smiling face suits you more than your sad face." I giggled lightly but stopped again. I put my hand on my stomach and winced. "Kei, what's wrong?" Kiba asked worried. I looked at Kiba and lifted in my shirt, revealing the scar from the big gap. Kiba's eyes widened in shock as he saw the scar. "God that looks bad."

"I nearly died because of it." He looked at me with a worried look. "You're kidding me right?"

"No. I'm serious."

"But… if you nearly died, what happened since you didn't?" I shrugged and moved my hair behind my ear. "I'm not quite sure actually. I remember how I faded into the dark and saw the light. I saw my parents and stepdad. I actually spoke to them."

"You were that close to dying?" I nodded and looked at Kiba. "Before I went with them to the afterlife, I heard someone talk to me. I don't know who it was, but the person said he loved me. After that I was being pulled back into life and the gap began to heal itself." Kiba nodded and hugged me tight. "Kiba, are you okay?"

"I'm just so glad that you didn't die. I would be depressed for months if I lost my cousin and best friend." I smiled lightly and slowly wrapped my arms around Kiba, hugging him back. "I'm glad too that I didn't die."


	11. Chapter 11: A creepy bastard

**Chapter 11: A creepy bastard**

Four days have passed since I came home from the hospital and Kiba is dragging me to a party. I don't know the person who's having the party, Kiba is just dragging me along. "Tell me one more time Kiba. Who are we going to a party at? And why did I say yes to go with you?" Kiba looked at me and grinned. "One of my old friends invited me. He told me I could bring someone, so I thought of you. And you said yes because you can't say no to me." He said in a very confident tone and smiled a bit proud. I laughed a bit and shook my head. "You moron. Of course I can say not to you."

"Then why did you say yes to go with me?"

"Because I wanted to spend some time with my cousin and best friend." I said and gave Kiba a friendly smile. He smiled back at me and looked ahead. "We're here." He said and knocked on the door. We stood there and waited for the door to open. I wonder how the person is and what kind of party it is. I don't think it's something wild. I can't imagine that Kiba wanted to attend a wild party. The door opened and a guy with blue spiky hair and yellow eyes opened the door. "Kiba! You came! How's it going?"

"Hey Kakarou. I'm fine and thanks for the invite."

"No problem man!" Kakarou smiled and looked behind Kiba once he saw me. "And who do we have here?" He walked out and walked around me to get a closer look at me. I wasn't wearing anything special. I was just wearing a pair of black leggings, a long red top and an orange cardigan with a hood on it. Kakarou stopped up and looked at Kiba. "Damn Kiba. Where did you find this hot girl?" He went to Kiba and whispered something in his ear that I couldn't hear. But judging by Kiba's face expression it must have been something gross. "Damn no! She's my cousin for god's sake! Kakarou, you're disgusting sometimes." Kakarou looked at me and a faint smirk formed on his lips. "So she's your cousin, huh? Mind if I take her?"

"Yes I do mind. Now go inside and wash your mouth with some soap before I do it for you." Kakarou raised his hands in defeat and chuckled. "Easy now. I won't do anything to her. I don't dare challenge you."

"Wise choice." Kiba said as he grabbed my wrist and dragged me all the way inside the living room. "Just sit down on the couch Kei. I'll bring us something to drink, okay?" I gave a single nod and sat down in the couch as Kiba went to get us something to drink. I looked around at the people who were at the party. Most of them looked like they were over 20 years old. I'm probably the youngest here. I stiffened as I heard a voice behind me, talking to me. "Hey babe. Are you with someone?" I quickly turned around and saw a rather buff guy standing right behind me. "Y-yes I am. I'm with Kiba." The guy jumped over the backrest of the couch and sat down next to me, close to me. "So you're with Kiba, huh? What do you see in him? Don't you like elder guys?" I got stunned and shocked by his question.

"H-how old are you?" He was creeping me out and in my current state I'm not able to defend myself very well, so I moved a bit away from him. "I'm 22... Why do you move away from me? Don't you want to make out with me?" My eyes widened as he asked me that question. What the hell is he thinking? He scooted a bit closer to me again and laid an arm around my shoulders and moved his head closer to mine. I hide my face in my palms. I didn't want to kiss him. "Stop that you idiot! Go and play with someone on your own age!" I peeked from behind my fingers and saw Ino standing in front of us. Thank god! "Make me!" The guy said and smirked a bit. "You really want me to force you to leave her alone?" Before he even got the chance to answer her, she began to make some hand seals. He moved away from me quickly and got off the couch. "Holy shit! You're a ninja!"

"Oh yes I am. Now, leave her alone or I'll blow you away!" The guy moved away from the couch and went to some of his friends. Ino sat down next to me and I hugged her tightly. "Thank you so much Ino! I didn't know what to do since I really can't do anything at the moment." Ino smiled at me and hugged me back. "You're welcome. I could tell you were uncomfortable, so I wanted to help. And besides I know you don't want to kiss that guy. You want to kiss Naruto." I blushed a dark shade of red and looked at Ino with widened eyes. "W-what? Why do you think that?" I asked and smiled sheepishly. "Oh come on Keichi. I weren't born yesterday. I've seen how you look at Naruto when he's around." My blush intensed tenfold and I immediately looked away.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about Ino! You must be imagining things!" I said, trying to sound innocent. "If you say so Keichi." I kept looking away, but looked at Kiba as he returned with something to drink in his hands. "Hey Ino. Are you here too?" He asked and sat down on my other side and gave me a glass with cola. "Yeah, I'm here too. I'm protecting your cousin from the other guys." Kiba looked at me with a mad yet worried look. "What happened?" I looked at Kiba a bit afraid of what he would do when I told him. He can have a short temper at times. "One of the guys tried to kiss me. He called me babe and wouldn't leave me alone." I heard Kiba growl low as if he was going to find the guy and rip him apart, but he didn't do anything. He just stayed on the couch next to me. "It's okay Keichi. Ino and I will protect you from the perverted guys." I smiled lightly and hugged him. "Thank you Kiba." He hugged back and chuckled. "You're welcome. I brought you here, so you're my responsibility." I gave a single nod as I pulled back and took a sip of my cola.

After a few hours someone suggested that we should all play a game called one hour in heaven, an extended version of seven minutes in heaven, and everyone seemed to agree on the idea. I looked at Ino with a confused look and whispered in her ear. "What's one hour in heaven?" Before Ino even got the chance to answer me, the girl who suggested the game explained the rules as all the guys left. "All the guys are now entering different rooms. On the doors stands a number. We girls are going to draw a number from this bowl and enter the door that has the same number on it. When you enter the room, you have to spend one hour in there with guy and nothing is illegal."

All the girls went up to pick a number. I took one as the last one and I got the number nine. I felt someone put a hand on my shoulder, so I turned my head to see it was Ino. "If something happens, just scream and I'll be there in no time, okay?" I nodded understanding and went to find the door with the number nine on it. I walked down a hall and looked at all the doors with a number on it, but I couldn't seem to find it. I had reached the end of the hallway and the door with the number nine on it was the last door. I closed my eyes as I took a hold of the doorknob and opened the door.

I went inside the room, my eyes still closed. A voice spoke as I closed the door and I stiffened. This couldn't be true. "This must be my lucky hour." I slowly opened my eyes and got slightly scared when I saw it was the guy who tried to kiss me. He got up from the bed and approached me. I was too scared to move. I just stood there and looked at him as he got closer to me. "Now you are mine for a whole hour." He said and smirked somewhat evil and deviously. I turned around to leave the room, but the guy had already locked the door. How was I even afraid of him? I'm a ninja, I have faced worse. Oh wait, that's true. I'm still injured and I can't defend myself!

I quickly ran to a corner to get away from him. "Come on. Don't you want to play with me?" He asked as he turned around and went to me again. I shook my head and tried to jump over him as he was getting closer, but unfortunately he grabbed my ankle while I was in the air and threw me down on the bed. I tried to get off the bed as quick as possible, but my wound began to ache and made it impossible for me to move fast enough. The guy was suddenly sitting on me, straddling my waist. I tried to punch him, but he just grabbed my hands and tied me to the bed with handcuffs. "Now you can't run away or harm me." He said and smirked. My eyes widened and I wiggled to get him off of me, but it was impossible for me because of my wound. The guy was now hovering over me on all four and looked down at me while he licked his lips. "Damn you're so sexy and beautiful. You make me want to do things to you, hot things."

"N-no! Please... There's someone I like." The guy just laughed and looked at me. "Too bad for him, cause now you're mine!" The guy moved his head to my neck and began to lick it and bite it. "NO! Stop it! I don't want to!"

"Too bad." He said as he moved his hand under my shirt and touched my breast. "Damn you have some big breasts! It really turns me on!" I closed my eyes and began to cry as he didn't seem to stop. I screamed from the top of my lungs as I felt his hand move down to area. "Shut the hell up!" The guy was about to slap me when the door suddenly was kicked in and Kiba and Ino appeared in the doorway. Kiba growled and rushed over to me and literally ripped the guy off of me and threw him on the floor. Ino rushed over to me as well and un-cuffed me from the bed. I held on to Ino as I cried and looked at Kiba and the guy fighting on the floor, Kiba sitting on top of the guy and holding him down. "What the hell do you think you're doing Kiba?! You can't enter a room while the game is still on!"

"What I'm doing?! What the fuck are you doing?! It's my cousin you're touching!" Kiba shouted the guy in the head and growled. "So what? That's what the game is all about you moron!"

"She's only fifteen you big idiot!" Kiba yelled and punched the guy in the face, got off the guy, picked me up and left the party along with Ino. As we reached our home, Kiba put me down and held me close in to him. "I'm so sorry Keichi. I wasn't able to protect you." I buried my face into his chest and cried. "I-it's okay Kiba. Y-you didn't know he would do that." Ino put a hand on my shoulder, making me look at her. "If you want me to, I can stay for the night so that you aren't alone." I nodded slightly and sobbed. "T-thank you Ino."

"You're welcome Keichi." Kiba opened the door and the three of us walked inside.


	12. Chapter 12: A heavenly game

**Chapter 12: The heavenly game**

Kiba, Ino and I are on our way to the training field to meet the others. Kiba was carrying me, since I was still so shaken by last night's event. As we arrived at the training field I saw everyone there, including Naruto, he just wasn't training. The others came over to us as they saw Kiba was carrying on me. He put me down next to Naruto and gave me a hug. I hugged back and just looked down. I could feel how everyone was looking at me with worried eyes, especially Sasuke. "What happened to Keichi?" He asked and squatted down next to me. I just looked at my brother and didn't reply him. I didn't want to tell him what happened, so Kiba explained it as he let go of me. Sasuke looked at me with mad and sad eyes as Kiba was telling what happened.

I could tell that it wasn't me he was mad at, or Kiba. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into a hug. I held on to my brother and slowly began to tear up. "If I knew she got exactly that room with that bastard, I would have stopped her!" Kiba said, blame was traced in his voice. He was blaming himself for what happened to me last night. "There's no doubt you would have stopped her Kiba, but you couldn't. I'm just glad you were there to help her when she needed it." Sasuke said and looked at Kiba while rubbing my back. "Thank you..." Kiba said, the guilt was still traceable in his voice. I let go of Sasuke and pulled Kiba in to me. "Don't blame yourself Kiba. It wasn't your fault."

"But I could have done something before the game star-..." I cut him off. "No you couldn't. No one could know I would pick the room he was in. I could have done something myself."

"Like what Kei? You can't overdo yourself due to your wound." I sighed lightly as I knew Kiba was right. "I know that. I could have kicked him in the nuts or something like that." Kiba nodded understanding and kissed my forehead. "Don't think more about it Keichi. Just relax while we train." I nodded and looked at Kiba and the others as they went back to train. Naruto scooted a bit closer to me, but I didn't notice. I was just looking down at the ground, thinking about what happened last night. "Are you okay Keichi?" I glanced to the side at Naruto as he spoke to me. "Yeah, I'm fine... I think." A single tear fell from my eye and ran down my cheek.

Naruto removed it and looked at me. "You don't seem like you're fine." I rested my head on Naruto's shoulder and looked at the ground. "It's just... the guy was only a few seconds from taking my virginity..." I could feel Naruto was adjusting his head down to look at me. "Was he really that close?" I nodded and kept looking down as I sighed. "Yeah... I don't want just anyone to take it... I want to be a special person." Naruto nodded and removed some hair from my forehead. "That's a good thing." I gave a single nod and enjoyed having my head on Naruto's shoulder.

"Hello there." Naruto and I got a shock and stiffened when we suddenly heard a voice behind us. We both slowly turned around to be met by Kakashi-sensei's masked face. "Kakashi-sensei! You scared us!" I said and sweat dropped a bit from the surprise that he was suddenly there. "Sorry about that Keichi. I just happened to pass by when I saw you two here. So I wanted to check up on you and ask how you were doing."

"We could be better, but we're okay." Naruto said and gave Kakashi-sensei a light smile. "I see. Well, the main thing is that both of you fully recover before going back to do missions." Kakashi-sensei nodded understanding and looked at both of us. "Can I ask you two a question?"

"Sure." I said and waited for his question. "Are you two dating?" He asked straight out without wrapping it in or anything. I felt a blush sneak up on my cheeks as Kakashi-sensei asked that. I don't know if Naruto is blushing too, I don't dare looking at him if he's not blushing and I am. "U-uhm... Why are you asking that sensei?" Naruto asked and scratched the back of his head. "Because Keichi was having her head on your shoulder." Kakashi-sensei smiled behind his mask as he saw me blushing. "N-no... I'm just tired and exhausted, so I relaxed my head on Naruto's shoulder." I said, still not looking at Naruto and still blushing. "I see, I see. Do you have any idea of when you can go back to training?" Naruto shook his head. "No. Sakura says I still haven't fully recovered. She won't allow me to train yet."

"And I'm still very weak from the wound in my stomach." I said and looked at Kakashi-sensei. "I see. Well, I have to leave again. I have some business to do. See you guys later."

"Bye sensei." Both Naruto and I said in unison. We turned around again and looked at each other. "Why did sensei think we were dating?" I asked, trying to make it sound like something that would never happen. "I don't know." Naruto replied rather fast, as if he didn't take time to think of the answer. I have to admit that it hurts. He doesn't like me, like I like him. It's obvious. I looked back at the others train, trying not to look hurt.

It's two days since I was at the training field where I almost got my heart broken, knowing that Naruto doesn't like me. I know he didn't tell me directly, but the way he replied me said it all. I'm on my way to Ino's home at the moment. She has arranged a little party. As I arrived at her home, I knocked on the door and wondered who would be there. The door opened and Ino looked at me smiling. "Hey Keichi. Come on in." She said and stepped aside, letting me walk in. I followed Ino to the living room and looked around, seeing none of the guys here plus a few girls I didn't know. "Are we only us girls?" I asked and looked at Ino as I sat down on the couch. "They are here. They are just waiting for us in separate rooms." I looked confused at Ino with a raised eyebrow. "Why are they in separate rooms?"

"We're going to play one hour in heaven." Ino replied me and smiled. I looked at her with widened eyes. "Are you serious?!"

"Calm down Keichi. You know all the guys who are here, so there's nothing to worry about." I nodded understanding and calmed down. I looked at the other girls as they drew a piece of paper from the hat with a number on it. I was the last one to draw a number. I got up from the couch and went to find the room with the number five on it. I found the door and closed my eyes as I grabbed the door knob, just like last time. I opened the door and entered the room, opening my eyes slowly as I closed the door. I blushed faintly and my heart skipped a beat when I saw who was sitting on the bed in the room.

I got Naruto. I'm both happy and sad about it. I'm happy about it 'cause I really, really like him. But I'm sad about it because he doesn't like me back. "Hey Keichi. So I got you." He said and gave me a smile. "Got a problem with that?" I asked and smiled faintly. "No, not at all." Naruto said. I sat down next to Naruto on the bed and looked out the window. I didn't know what to do or what to say. "I haven't seen you in a few days. Are you feeling better?" Naruto asked, breaking the silence. I turned my head and glanced at him. "Yeah, I'm doing better."

"That's good. I don't like it when you're hurt."

"You don't?" I asked and smiled faintly. "No. You're my friend. I don't like it when my friends are hurt." Naruto said and smiled. I nodded understanding. "What about you? Are you feeling any better?"

"Yeah. Sakura says that I can begin training again in a few days."  
"I thought you had recovered all of your lost blood by now?" I asked and tilted my head a bit to the side. "I have. But Sakura found out that one of the kunais made a big crack in one of my rib bones. If I trained or went on a mission and got punched, the bone could break and possibly puncture my lung." I nodded understanding. Naruto looked at me like he had a question. "Something wrong?" I asked. "No. I was just thinking."

"About what?"

"About what you told me the other day at the training field. That you wouldn't just let anyone take your virginity, you wanted it to be someone special... Have you found that someone special yet?" I felt a faint blush sneak up on my cheeks as Naruto asked that, 'cause the truth is that I have. "Why do you ask?" I asked and smiled lightly. "Just to talk about something. We can't just sit here in awkward silence."

"I guess you're right. And yes, I've found that special someone."

"You have? Who?" Naruto asked and tiled his head to the side, looking at me like a curious little cat. "Well... There's this guy I like pretty much, or I rather have this huge crush on. But I don't know if he likes me." Naruto nodded. "I see. Why don't you think he likes you?" I looked at Naruto. He looked somewhat depressed but he sounded like his normal self. "Because it doesn't seems like he likes me..." I said as I got up from the bed and walked around in the room. Naruto got up as well, but he just stood by the bed. "Is something wrong Keichi?" I looked over at him and shook my head. "No. Nothing's wrong." I said and bite my bottom lip as I continued to walk around.

"I'm sorry I asked you that question Keichi. It got too personal didn't it?" I looked at Naruto and walked towards him. "It didn't get too personal Naruto. If I didn't want to talk about it I wouldn't ans-..." I was cut off midsentence as I tripped over my own foot and fell forwards. Luckily Naruto grabbed me, but he lost his balance and fell backwards onto the bed. He was still holding on to me, so I landed on top of him. I looked at Naruto and blushed fiercely when I realized how close our faces were to each other. Only a few inches of air were between our faces. He was blushing as well. I don't know if it is because of the same reason as me, but he blushed.

"I... I-I'm so sorry Naruto. I-I didn't mean to-..." I cut myself off when I looked into his eyes and almost got hypnotized by the beautiful blue color his eyes had. I was drawn back to reality when Naruto ran a hand through my hair. "Your hair is really soft." He said and smiled warmly at me. "Thank you." I said and smiled. I looked towards the door as it opened and saw Ino standing in the doorway. "Time is up you two!" She looked at us and smirked. "Did I interrupt something?" I quickly got off of Naruto and blushed. "No you didn't." Naruto got off the bed and left the room, me following behind him.

I sat down between Hinata and Sakura on the couch as we got to the living room. The guys were talking together and we girls talked together. "So, how did it go with Naruto?" Sakura asked me. I looked at her with a slightly raised eyebrow. "How did you know I was in room with Naruto? I haven't told you that." Sakura sweat dropped and smiled sheepishly at me. "Well..."

"We paired you up with Naruto on purpose." Ino said. I looked at her with widened eyes in shock and surprise. "You did what? But why? And how?"

"When Naruto went inside a room, we did something to the paper with his number on it so that none of us would take it. We did it because we know you like him." I kept looking at Ino and blushed. "You guys are unbelievable." Ino just smirked. "Now, tell us what happened in the room Keichi."

"Nothing happened. We just talked, nothing else." Sakura looked at me. "You didn't do anything?" I shook my head and looked back at Ino as I sensed her devious smirk. "What were you doing on top of Naruto when I opened the door then?"

"I-I just lost my footing when I walked around in the room. Naruto caught me and accidently lost his balance and fell backwards onto the bed."

"So you didn't do anything else?" I looked at Tenten and shook my head. "No. Naruto is 17 and I'm only 15. At least in a few more days."

"What does that mean?" Hinata asked confused and tilted her head. "My birthday. I turn 16 on Friday." The girls all looked at me with widened eyes. "Keichi, that's only three days from now. Why didn't you tell us?" Sakura asked. "I don't know. Maybe it's because I'm not used to get celebrated on my birthday. The Bokai clan never did." Hinata hugged me, comforting actually. "You poor thing." I smiled lightly and hugged back. "It's okay. I'm used to it. Besides, it's too late now to throw up a party." I said and looked around at the girls. It would be nice to get celebrated for once. But as I said, it's too late now.


	13. Chapter 13: My birthday

**Chapter 13: My birthday**

Today it is Friday, so it's my birthday. I'm turning 16 today, but nothing is prepared for my birthday as usual. I was just sitting in my room, reading a book when Tsume suddenly entered my room. "Someone is here to see you." I nodded as I got off my bed and went to the front door. I smiled lightly when I saw it was Naruto. "Hey Keichi. Do you want to take a walk with me?" He asked and smiled. "If I said yes, where would you take me?" I asked and smiled. "The park? The village? The forest? Where you want to go." I nodded and leaned against the door. "Hmm... I don't really know Naruto. I'm a bit busy." I said just to tease him a bit. I wasn't busy at all.

"But you have to!" I raised my eyebrow a bit. "I mean uh... I really want to take a walk with you." He said and blushed faintly. I giggled lightly and nodded. "I was just teasing you Naruto. Of course I want to take a walk with you. Let me just change into some clothes then, okay?" I said and looked down at myself. I was wearing my pj's. "Sure, I'll be waiting right here." Naruto said. I went back to my room to quickly change into something.

I just put on a pair of black leggings, a long red top and a blur cardigan. I quickly brushed my hair and put it up in a ponytail and went back to Naruto. "I'm ready!" I said and smiled. Naruto nodded and waited for me to leave with him. "I'm going for a walk with Naruto!" I yelled. "Okay, see you later." Tsume replied from the living room. I left the house along with Naruto and walked with him to the park. As we arrived at the park I went straight for the lake. I sat down on the grass under a tree and looked at the sky. Naruto sat down next to me. "I love this place. It's so beautiful." I said and looked over the lake. "Yes yo-... Uhh, I mean, yes it is." I looked at Naruto and smiled.

"Listen." I said and none of us said a word. The birds were singing and chipping, the babbling sound from the water in the lake and the wind moving with the leaves on the trees. "It sounds so peaceful." I said and closed my eyes, listening to the sounds around me. "Have you found out if the guy you like, likes you back?" I opened my eyes and looked at Naruto to see he had laid down on the grass. "Hmm... No. He still hasn't been giving a sign that he likes me." Naruto nodded understanding and looked up at the sky. "Do you mind me asking who it is?" I felt a faint blush sneak up on my cheeks. "Uhm... I-it's a secret." Naruto sat up and looked at me. "Come on Keichi. You can tell me. I can keep a secret." I just looked out at the lake to avoid looking into Naruto's eyes. "I can't."

"But I'm curious." I shook my head and kept looking over the lake. "I can't tell you now. I'll tell you when I know more." I said and laid down on the grass and closed my eyes. If I just knew he liked me I could tell him. But I don't want to ruin our friendship by telling him that I like him when I know he doesn't feel the same as I do. I took a deep breath and sighed. "Is everything okay Kei?" I opened my eyes and looked at Naruto surprised. "You called me Kei." He looked away from me. "Sorry. I've just heard Kiba and Sasuke call you that, so I thought it was your nickname."

"It is. But you have never called me Kei before. Don't say sorry." Naruto looked back at me. "If you don't want me to call you Kei I should say sorry." I smiled warmly at Naruto and shook my head. "Of course you can call me Kei. It's my nickname after all. Every one of my friends can call me by my nickname." Naruto nodded understanding and smiled. I got up from the ground and walked towards the lake. I took off my shoes and stepped out in the water, just till the water was by my ankles. "What are you doing?" I heard Naruto asking, so I turned around and looked at him with a smile. "I just want to dip my feet in the water."

"Okay then." He said and smiled. I turned back around and began to kick with the water, making water drops fly up in the air and fall down in the water again. I turned around when I had a feeling that someone was looking at me, and true enough, Naruto was just looking at me with a look on his face I couldn't really understand. It wasn't a bad look though. "What are you looking at?" I asked and smiled. Naruto shook his head lightly as if he was getting out of a trance. "Uhm... Nothing. I was just thinking." I nodded and continued to kick with the water. "What were you thinking of? It seemed like you were pretty deep in your thoughts."

"Uhh... It wasn't anything serious. Just some random thoughts." Naruto said as he got up from the ground and walked closer to the lake, but stayed on the grass.

The time is 4:00 pm and Naruto is walking me back home. We had been in the park for about 4 hours. "I can't believe we lost track of time!" I said and looked at Naruto. "Me neither." He said and grinned. We reached back home and stood outside the house, looking at each other. "I had a great time with you today Naruto. I really enjoyed it." I said and smiled warmly. "You had?" Naruto asked and looked at me with a happy grin. "Of course. Do you want to go with inside for a while?" I asked as I opened the door. "Yeah sure!" He said and we both walked inside.

"I'm home!" No one answered me, which caused me to raise my eyebrow. It was very quiet in the entire house. "Hello? Is anyone home?" I was rather confused. Neither Kiba, Tsume nor Hana mentioned that they would be out of the house today. I heard a noise from the living room and went there along with Naruto. The door is closed? The door to the living room is never closed. What's going on here? I grabbed the doorknob and opened the door and got totally stunned of what I found in the living room. "Happy birthday Keichi!" All of my friends and the family I had were there. Including my senseis, Kakashi and Iruka.

"O-oh my god... w-what's going on?" I asked out of complete shock and surprise. "It's a surprise party for you Keichi." Naruto said and stood next to me. "B-but why? How?" I asked again, still in shock. "After you and Kiba left my house the other day we all began to arrange a surprise party for you Keichi." Ino said and smiled. "You really deserve it Kei." Kiba said and grinned. As it occurred to me what was going on, I teared up and began to cry. "Kei, what's wrong?" Sasuke asked and came over to me. I looked at my brother. "N-no one has ever d-done something like this for m-me before... I-I'm just happy." I said while sobbing. Sasuke smiled and hugged me, holding me close. "You deserve it Kei. You really do." Sakura and Hinata came up to me and took my hands. "Come with us. We have something for you." They said and took me to my room.

"Why are you taking me to my room?" I asked and looked at them as they put me down on my bed. "We have something for you to wear." Hinata said and pulled out something from a paper bag. It was a dress. "Wow. It's pretty." I said. "Put it on." both Hinata and Sakura said in unison. I got up from the bed and began to change into the dress. It was black with no sleeves and was sitting tight around my chest and stomach, and was sitting loose from my hips and down to my knees. A red ribbon was around the hips on the dress and was tied in a bow. Sakura sat me down on a chair and Hinata began to put some make-up on me. "Wow. You look beautiful Keichi." Sakura said and smiled. I looked at myself in the mirror and smiled. Hinata had just put on some light make-up on me. A light grey eye shadow and some mascara. "I do. Thank you." I said and looked at Sakura and Hinata. They both smiled at me. "Let's go back to the others, shall we?" I nodded and went back to the living room with them.

As we entered the living room again, everyone laid their eyes on me and smiled. Sasuke came up to me and kissed my forehead. "You know. I have a very gorgeous sister." He said and smiled. I giggled and hugged my brother. "Thank you Sasuke." I looked over at Naruto. He had changed his clothes. I walked over to him and smiled. "Thank you Naruto." He looked a bit confused at me and tilted his head. "What are you thanking me for?"

"The walk in the park. I enjoyed it and had a great time with you. I never expected you were keeping me away from home because of this." He grinned widely. "Heh, I'm glad you enjoyed our time in the park."

"I sure did." I said and gave Naruto a friendly kiss on the cheek and walked over to the table that was set up to get something to eat. I sat down and Sasuke and Kiba sat down next to me. I noticed that Sasuke was looking at me while I was eating. "What?" I asked while chewing on some meat. "Hmm... Kei, who do you like?" My eyes widened and I almost choked on the meat when Sasuke asked me that. I drank some water and looked at him. "Why are you asking that?"

"I'm curious. Plus, I'm your brother, so I have to know."

"No you don't. And I can't tell you now. I need to find out if he likes me back." Sasuke smirked rather deviously, making me blush a bit. "So you do like someone, huh?"

"Can you tell us who it is?" Kiba asked. Why did he have to join the conversation? It's embarrassing enough how my brother in interrogating me. "I can tell you as much that you know who he is. I'm not telling you two more than that." Both Sasuke and Kiba nodded understanding and continued to eat. The rest of the evening and the night went with opening my presents, talking to my friends and just having a lot of fun. This is my best birthday in years!


	14. Chapter 14: It was you!

**Chapter 14: It was you!**

It's been three days since my birthday and now everyone is leaving. They are all going on a mission, including Tsume and Hana, so I have to stay here all on my own. "See you in a few days Keichi. Take good care of yourself while we're all gone, okay?" Tsume told me as she gave me a hug of goodbye. "I will." I said and hugged back with a smile. Tsume smiled and left along with Hana. Kiba left earlier with the others. It was a big mission if I'm not mistaken. I left the house and headed for the park. I wanted to get some fresh air and I like being in the park, so I decided to just go there. I sat down under a tree by the lake and listened to the birds singing, the wind moving with the leaves and the water flowing in the lake.

I lay down on the grass and looked up at the sky, but eventually ended up falling asleep due to that I didn't get much sleep last night. I don't know why though. I felt someone poke my shoulder, so I slowly opened my eyes just to see Naruto's face hovering over mine. I sat up immediately and looked at him. "Naruto. What are you doing here? I thought you were on mission with the others." Naruto shook his head. "Tsunade-sama made me stay a few more days. Just to be sure that everything is okay."

"Oh. Why are you here in the park then? Can't you train?" Naruto sat down in front of me. "Nah. I more felt like taking a walk through the park. Then I saw you." I nodded and smiled warmly. We were talking about random things for almost an hour when it suddenly began to rain. "Maybe I should get home now." I said and got up from the ground. "Yeah, me too." Naruto said and got up as well. We only took a few steps and the rain began to pour down on us. "I'm already getting soaked!" I whined and looked at Naruto. "My place is closer than yours. You can come with me home if you want. Just until the rain is off."

"Sure. Why not." I said with a smile and we both began to run towards Naruto's apartment. Unfortunately, I lost my footing and fell right into a puddle of mud, getting all covered in dirt. "Eew! Disgusting!" Naruto stopped up and looked at me. "Come on." He grabbed my hand, pulled me up and dragged me along. We arrived at Naruto's apartment short after and went inside. "Naruto, I seriously need a shower. I have mud in my hair!" I whined and looked down at myself, soaked and covered in rain and mud. "You can go take a shower. I'll bring you some of my clothes that you can borrow." I looked at Naruto and nodded with a smile. He showed me where the bathroom was and went to his own room. I entered the bathroom, closed the door and began to undress.

I can't believe that I'm in Naruto's apartment! We've known each other for about 9 months and this is the first time I'm at his place. I don't really know what to do! I'm feeling a bit nervous. I had only taken off my shirt when the door suddenly opened to the bathroom. "Here's some clothes you can bo-..." Naruto dropped the clothes on the floor and looked at me with widened eyes. I blushed as he just kept staring at me. I was so focused on that I was in Naruto's home that I already forgot he would bring me some clothes. He quickly picked up the clothes and placed it on the toilet, rushed out of the bathroom and closed the door. "S-sorry Keichi! I didn't expect you would undress before I gave you the clothes."

"I-it's okay Naruto." I could hear him walk away from the door. I sighed and looked at myself in the mirror. I was having a deep blush all over my face. What can I say? The guy I like saw me shirtless. I know I was wearing a bra, but still. I'm still having a feeling that he doesn't like me back. I got rid of the rest of my clothes, turned on the water and went in the shower. I closed my eyes and tilted my head backwards, letting the water hit my face and wash away the mud. It was a nice feeling. I could literally feel how the water washed away the dried mud from my face, neck and arms. I took some soap and washed my hair, my body, finished the shower and dried myself off. I looked at the clothes Naruto had brought me and put it on. I sweat dropped a bit and blushed as I realized I couldn't fit the pants. They kept falling down beneath my ankles. They were too big around the waist. I left the bathroom, with a blush on my face, and went to the living room where Naruto was. "Thank you for letting me borrow a shower... and your clothes."

"You're wel-..." Naruto cut himself off as he turned his head and looked at me, standing there only wearing my panties and the t-shirt he brought me. Luckily the t-shirt was long enough to cover my butt and panties. "I can't fit the pants. They are too big around the waist. I hope it's okay I'm going around like this." Naruto nodded. "I-it's fine Keichi. Come and watch some TV with me."

"I was actually thinking of making some dinner for us. The time is 5:30 pm." Naruto nodded. "Okay. But I don't really know what food I have. Or if I even have something." He said with a sheepish smile and rubbed the back of his neck. I giggled lightly and smiled. "I'll see what I can do." I said and went inside the kitchen. I looked through Naruto's cupboards and found some noodles and coconut milk. "Okay. So far so good." I went to the fridge and looked through it. I found a few carrots, red pepper and leeks. I looked for some meat, but couldn't find any. I tried in the freezer as well. There was some minced beef, so I just took that. I began to chop the vegetables as the minced beef was on the frying pan and the noodles boiling. As the minced beef was fried, I added the vegetables and when they were crispy, I added the coconut milk. I set the table and yelled for Naruto. "The dinner is ready!"

"Be right there!" He yelled back. I placed the food on the table and sat down on a chair, waiting for Naruto. He entered the kitchen and sniffed in the air. "Wow, it smells good. What did you cook?"

"I just worked with what I could find, so something random." I said and smiled. Naruto nodded and sat down across from me. "It looks interesting."

"Thanks. Dig in." Naruto nodded and we both took some of the food and began to eat. "Wow. This is good Keichi." He said and looked at me with his usual grin. I smiled at him. "Thank you Naruto. I'm glad you like it." Naruto nodded and we continued to eat. As we finished eating the dinner, I was about to do the dishes when Naruto stopped me. "Let me do that. You cooked dinner, so I'll do the dishes. Now, off to the living room with you." I looked at Naruto and nodded. "Okay then." I left the kitchen and went inside the living room, sat down on the couch and watched some TV. Naruto joined me after twenty minutes and sat down next to me. I looked out the window and sighed. "It's incredible that the rain hasn't stopped yet." Naruto looked out the window as well and nodded. "Yeah, it is." I turned my head to look at Naruto, but squealed and jumped a bit closer to him as a lightning stroke, followed by the sound of a thunder. "Are you okay?" Naruto asked and looked at me. "I-I don't like thunderstorms. Baichi and the other Bokai's teased me with lightning jutsus when I was a little girl. And being hit by Baichi's lightning jutsu hasn't really helped on it."

"Oh. I see." I looked at Naruto, fear showing all over my face. "C-can I stay here for the night?" Naruto nodded. "Yeah sure. You can sleep in my bed. I'll take the couch then." I shook my head. "No. I can't take your bed. I'll take the couch."

"But-..." I cut Naruto off. "No buts Naruto. I'll take the couch." He nodded and got up from the couch. "I'll go get you a blanket and a pillow." He said and went to his bedroom. I looked after him and got scared as another lightning stroke. "H-hurry!" Naruto came back short after and put the blanket and the pillow down on the couch. "Hey, hey, hey. The lightning can't hurt you when you're in here." I looked at Naruto and nodded, knowing he was right. "I-I know, but I'm still scared." Naruto sat down on the couch again. I lay down with my head on the pillow and pulled the blanket over me. It didn't take me long before I fell asleep.

I was trashing myself around on the couch and woke up instantly, sitting up in the couch. It was just a nightmare. I had dreamt that Baichi came to finish the job, to kill me. I lay back down and tried to sleep, but I couldn't. I was too scared and it didn't make it any better that a lightning stroke outside again. "I-is there really still a thunderstorm?" I asked myself. I can't sleep in the living room by myself when there's a thunderstorm outside. Maybe Naruto is still awake? I got up from the couch and slowly went to Naruto's bedroom, standing in the doorway. "Naruto?... Naruto?" He just groaned and rolled around in the bed. "A-are you awake?" He turned his head towards me and slowly opened his eyes. "Are you okay Keichi?" He asked in a tired voice.

I shook my head. "I had a nightmare and there's still a thunderstorm outside... I-is it okay if I sleep in here next to you?" I asked and looked down at the floor. "You want to sleep in the bed with me?" I glanced up at Naruto and flinched as a new lightning stroke. "Y-yes..." Naruto moved back in the bed and patted on the free spot. "Come here then." I practically ran to the bed and hide under the blanket, snuggling in to Naruto as the thunder sounded. Naruto lifted the blanket and looked down at me. "Are you really that scared that you have to be this close to me?" I glanced up at Naruto and nodded. "S-sorry Naruto... I'll move away if I'm too close." Naruto shook his head and laid and arm over me. "It's okay."

I nodded and looked into Naruto's eyes and got lost. His eyes are very hypnotizing and can bind me as soon as I look into them. He stroke my hair and smiled at me, making me blush a bit. I nuzzled my head in the crook of Naruto's neck to hide the fact that I was blushing. I licked my lips, cause they were a bit dry, an accidently hit Naruto's neck, making him shudder. "What are you doing?"

"N-nothing... I was just licking my lips. They were dry." Naruto moved a bit back so he could look at me. I looked him in the eyes and once again got lost and hypnotized. He moved his head closer to mine till there were only a few inches between our faces. I didn't move. I kept looking at Naruto, not moving back even though he was getting closer to me. He placed a hand on my cheek and cupped it, rubbing it with his thumb. I could slightly feel Naruto's breath against my lips just a few seconds before he pressed his lips against mine and kissed me. I was taken back by the sudden kiss, but I definitely enjoyed it. I've wanted to kiss Naruto for so long and now he's finally kissing me. His lips are so soft. Naruto moved a bit back, pulling from the kiss and looked at me. "Y-you kissed me..." I managed to say through the surprise. "I'm sorry if I did something I shouldn't have done. I just couldn't resist it anymore." I shook my head. "You didn't."

"I didn't? But what about the guy you like? What will he says if he finds out you were kissed by someone else?" I smiled and shrugged. "I don't know. What do you say about it?" Naruto raised his eyebrow in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I mean I-..." Naruto placed a finger in front of my mouth and cut me off. "Before you say more, I want to tell you something." I nodded and waited for Naruto to speak, but he was silent for a moment and took a deep breath. "I like you, but not as a friend. I like you more than that... I love you." My eyes widened and I sat up instantly in the bed. Naruto sat up as well and looked at me nervously. "Did I say something wrong?" I shook my head and kept looking at Naruto. "I-it was you..."

"What do you mean?"

"It was you I heard when I was near death the night in the Bokai clan's area. It was you who confessed your feelings." Naruto's eyes slightly widened. "Y-you actually heard me?" I nodded and touched my lips. "You kissed me too, didn't you?" Naruto blushed and looked down at the blanket. "Y-yeah... I thought that I was never going to see you again, so I-..." I cut Naruto off by pressing my lips against his, kissing him. Naruto looked at me, placed his hands on my shoulder and moved me away just a bit. "Why did you do that? What about the other guy?" I just smiled and giggled lightly. "What about him?"

"What will he say if he finds out you're kissing me?" I shrugged. "I don't know. What do you say about it?" Naruto just looked at me lost and confused again, not getting the hint. "Come on Naruto. You can't be that clueless. Why would I kiss you?" He shrugged and looked at me. "I don't know." I sweat dropped and shook my head. "Naruto... You're the guy I like." His eyes widened slightly and a smile formed on his lips. "Really? You're not joking me right now, are you?"

"Do you think I would kiss you just for fun? I mean it Naruto. I really, really like you."

"I'm so relieved." I tilted my head a bit to the side. "You are? Why?"

"Because I thought I should see you with someone else." I smiled sweetly at Naruto. "That won't happen. Unless you don't want me."

"Of course I want you!" Naruto said right away without hesitation. I giggled and lay back down along with Naruto and snuggled closer to him. He wrapped his arms around me and held me close. We both closed our eyes and went back to sleep.


	15. Chapter 15: I'm not a monster?

**Chapter 15: I'm not a monster?**

I woke up the next morning and stretched, keeping my eyes closed. Was everything just a dream? Was everything that happened between Naruto and I just a simple dream? Or is it real? I hope it is real. I will be heartbroken if it's just a dream. I slowly opened my eyes and noticed that I was lying in Naruto's bed. So it wasn't a dream? I asked myself as I got off the bed and made my way out of the bedroom. The scent of food reached my nose as I left the bedroom, so I went to the kitchen and saw Naruto standing by the stove, making breakfast. He turned around and looked at me with a smile. He came over to me and kissed me softly on my lips. "Morning sleepyhead."

I smiled and wrapped my arms around Naruto's neck. "Morning Naruto. So it wasn't a dream." Naruto looked at me with a slightly confused look. "What wasn't a dream?" He asked and tilted his head a bit to the side. "What happened last night between us." Naruto grinned widely and wrapped his arms around me. "No. It wasn't a dream. It was all real." I smiled and pecked Naruto's lips. "Breakfast is ready. I made some eggs and bacon." I nodded with a smile and sat down on a chair. Naruto sat down across from me and we both took some of the food and began to eat. "Wow. This is good." I said and looked at Naruto with a smile.

"Really? You think so?" He asked with a big grin. I nodded and giggled. "Yeah. I wouldn't say it if it wasn't true." Naruto grinned at me. "I'm glad to hear you like it. I'm best at making breakfast. For lunch and dinner I normally eat instant ramen." I giggled and smiled. "I'll make dinner again tonight then." Naruto looked at me with a tilted head. "You want to make dinner here again?" I nodded and swallowed some egg. "Yeah. If it's fine with you of course. No one's home at my place anyways and it's not fun being all alone there." Naruto nodded and took some bacon. "I see."

"Yeah. Besides, I want to be with my boyfriend. Until the others get back if I can." Naruto looked at me with a happy grin and nodded. "You can stay." I smiled brightly and finished eating. "Hey, what do you think the others will say when they find out we're together?" Naruto looked at me and sweat dropped. "Ehe, Sasuke actually already gave me a warning." He said and scratched the back of his head. I raised my eyebrow. "He did? When? And what did he say?"

"It was at your birthday party. He said that if I ever hurt your feelings, he would make sure I regretted it." I sweat dropped and laughed. "Oh god. He really said that? That idiot. Why did he say that in the first place?" Naruto blushed a bit and smiled. "Well, I couldn't take my eyes off of you on your birthday party when you wore that dress. Sasuke saw it and figured that I liked you. That's when he said that." I shook my head lightly and giggled. "That idiot. Don't mine Sasuke. I trust that you won't hurt my feelings."

"I won't. I promise you that." I smiled and got up from the chair, walked over to Naruto and sat on his lap. "I was thinking if you wanted to go with me back to my place and get some clothes? If I'm going to stay till the others return I need my own clothes." Naruto nodded and kissed my cheek. "Sure. Let's go after I've done the dishes. Now, go and get dressed. You can take some of my clothes." I nodded with a smile and went to Naruto's bedroom. I went to his closet and looked through it for something I could wear and fit. I succeeded in finding a t-shirt I could fit, but I wasn't that lucky to find some pants I could fit. They were all too big around the waist and kept falling down to my ankles. I turned around when I heard someone chuckle and saw Naruto standing in the doorway. I pouted and crossed my arms. "Not funny!"

"It is." He said and walked over to me with a smile on his lips. "I can't fit any of your pants Naruto. Don't you have a belt I can borrow or something?" Naruto scratched the back of his head and looked like he was thinking. "Hmm. I don't have a belt. But I might have some rope somewhere. Wait a sec." I nodded and watched Naruto as he rushed around in the apartment to find the rope. He came back after five minutes and held some rope in his hand. "Here, try and see if this works." I pulled up the pants, took the rope, tied it around my waist and looked at Naruto. "I think it works for now. But let's hurry to my place before they should fall down."

"Yush!" Naruto and I went to the front door.

We arrived at my place after fifteen minutes and I quickly went to my room to get changed. I had told Naruto to wait outside my room, at least till I had changed. I just put on a pair of pants, a top and a cardigan, and opened the door to my room, letting Naruto come in while I packed. "Wow. You're fast at changing clothes." He said and looked at me. I giggled and looked at Naruto while putting some clothes in a bag. "I couldn't let you stay outside of my room all the time, could I?" Naruto chuckled and kissed my cheek. "I guess not." He said with a smile. I smiled back and walked around in my room and grabbed different things I might needed to bring with me. "I was wondering if you wanted to go out and eat tonight?" I stopped up and looked at Naruto as he asked that. I tilted my head a bit and smiled sweetly at him. "I would love to. But I don't have any money for it."

"It's okay. My treat." I smiled brightly and nodded. "Great! Where should we eat then?" Naruto asked as he walked over to me and wrapped his arms around my waist. "Hmm... I don't know. What do you think? You invited me out, so you should decide where." I said and kissed Naruto's cheek. He tapped his chin with his index finger and made a thinking face. "Hmm. What do you think of 'The Little Shrimp'? How does that sound?"

"Sushi, huh?" I asked and smiled. "Sure. I like sushi." Naruto grinned big. "Sushi it is! And Ramen." He said and almost drooled. "Hey. You're almost drooling on me Naruto. You can think of ramen later." Naruto wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth and grinned. "Heh, sorry." I shook my head at him and giggled. "I would say you loved ramen more than me." I said teasing. Naruto immediately wrapped his arms around me and held me close. "Never! There's only one thing I love more than ramen, and that's you." I looked up at Naruto, since he's taller than me, and smiled. "Aaaww, I feel special now."

"You are special Keichi." Naruto said as he placed a hand on my cheek, cupping it and rubbing it with his thumb. I blushed lightly and smiled. "Thank you Naruto."

"You're welcome." He leaned down to me and kissed me softly. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed back just as softly. I love Naruto's kisses. His lips are really soft, for a guy. I slowly pulled from the kiss and looked Naruto in the eyes. "I should get done packing my things." Naruto nodded and let go of me. I proceeded to pack my things and finished in less than five minutes. We left my place again and headed back to Naruto's apartment, walking hand in hand.

As we arrived back at Naruto's apartment, I put my bag in his room and went to the living room to Naruto and sat down next to him on the couch. He laid an arm around my shoulders and I rested my head on his shoulder. "Naruto. Can I ask you something?" I asked and looked up at him. He lowered his gaze at me and nodded. "Sure."

"Two weeks ago, when I came home from the hospital, Kiba told me that you're like me. You have a creature inside of you. A tailed beast to be exact. Is it true?" Naruto kissed my cheek and nodded. "It is."

"Don't you ever feel like you're... a monster? I mean. I know about Hyaku, the hundred bodied monster. I... I feel like a monster." I said and looked down. Naruto placed a finger under my chin and lifted my head, making me look him in the eyes. "Don't say that Keichi. You're not a monster just because you have one sealed inside of you."

"But that's the problem Naruto. Hyaku wasn't sealed away inside of me. H-he's just there... Like it's me who's borrowing his body and not the oth-..." Naruto cut me off by kissing me. He slowly pulled from the kiss and looked me in the eyes. "Don't call yourself a monster. True, Hyaku is inside of you and has been that since your birth. But that doesn't mean you're borrowing his body or making you a monster. You are who you are and Hyaku is living inside of you. I love you no matter what Keichi, I really do. So please don't call yourself a monster." I couldn't help it but smile at Naruto's words and hug him tight. "Thank you Naruto." He hugged back and rubbed my back gently. "You're welcome. I can help you train to get control over Hyaku if you want. Since I'm having control over Kurama." I looked at Naruto and nodded. "I would love to." Naruto kissed my cheek and smiled brightly at me with his gorgeous smile.r he


	16. Chapter 16: Payback!

**Chapter 16: Payback!**

After Naruto and I had finished our dinner at the restaurant, 'The Little Shrimp', we went to the park to take a walk. Funny enough, we sat down by the lake. We've been here together three or four times now. It's like this is just our place.

We both sat down by the lake side and looked up at the sky. It was dark and the sky was clear from clouds, which means that stars are covering the sky along with the moon. "The stars are so beautiful. They're shining so brightly." I said and rested my head on Naruto's shoulder.

I'm very amazed by the sky in the night time when there are no clouds on the sky and only stars and the moon can be seen. "The stars are really beautiful. But not as beautiful as you." Naruto said and kissed my cheek.

I looked at him with a faint blush on my cheeks and smiled. "Aaw, thank you Naruto. You're so sweet." I said and kissed him while wrapping my arms around his neck. Naruto smiled into the kiss and laid down on the grass, pulling me with him. I rested my head on his chest and closed my eyes, enjoying my time with Naruto.

I opened my eyes and just stared into nothing when a voice spoke behind us, a voice I recognized. "Well isn't that the gorgeous girl from Kakarou's party?" I sat up and turned my head to look at the person who spoke, and I was right. I did recognize the voice. It was the disgusting guy from that party Kiba dragged me to. He was with three of his friends. I think they are his friends or something. Why else should they be with him? He looked at me and smirked. "Oh, it is you. To think I should see you again. Want to have some fun?" I quickly got up from the ground and so did Naruto. I narrowed my eyes and glared. "Why on earth would I want that?"

"Because you're gorgeous and looks like you need company."

"You are disgusting! I don't need company. I'm with my boyfriend." The guy looked at Naruto and began to laugh. "Is that guy really your boyfriend?" He asked, still laughing while his friends began to laugh with him. "What in the world do you see in a wimp like him?" I frowned and growled a bit. "You little. I'm going to-..." Naruto cut me off by standing in front of me. "I think you guys should leave now."

The guy from the party stopped laughing and looked at Naruto. "Oh yeah? Make me." Naruto cracked his knuckles and neck. "Okay. You asked for it yourself." He clenched a fist and punched the guy so hard in the face that he flew a few meters backwards. One of his friends glared at Naruto and growled. "The hell do you think you're doing?"

"Protecting my girlfriend, that's what I'm doing." One of the guys grabbed a knife and ran at Naruto. I let Naruto handle the guys' friends while I myself went to the guy who tried to harm me at that party. I looked at him as he slowly got up from the ground and rubbed his jaw. "Last time I didn't protect myself from you because of a wound. But this time there's nothing that can stop me from kicking your ass!" He looked at me and chuckled.

"Is that so? What do you intend to do? Tickle me until I can't stand up anymore?" I smirked at him and cracked my knuckles. "You're underestimating me." He obviously didn't like that I was threatening him, because he came running at me, aiming a punch at my face. I quickly blocked his attack, punched him in the face and kicked him in the stomach, sending him flying into a tree.

"You didn't let me finish before. You're underestimating me because I'm a ninja! I can kick your sorry ass as easy as nothing." The guy got up from the ground and looked over at me. "You're a ninja?!"

"Hell yeah I am!" I yelled. "You can't be a good one. You couldn't even defend yourself at that party!" He said and laughed, making my eye twitch. Oh he's getting down! I suddenly appeared in front of him and karate-chopped him in the neck, making him fall to the ground. I flipped him over on his stomach, grabbed his arms and held them on his back with one hand while pressing on a weak spot on his shoulder, making him unable to move for a bit. I leaned down closer to his ear and whispered. "Listen carefully. If you don't leave me alone, I'll make sure that you end up at the hospital. Got it?"

"G-got it." I let go of the guy's arms and looked at Naruto as he came over to me. "Come. Let's go back to my place." He said and kissed my forehead. I nodded with a sigh and took a hold of Naruto's hand, intertwining our fingers and walked with him.

I couldn't stop being annoyed that the guy had come to the park and ruined mine and Naruto's evening. Of course he didn't know that we were there, but he could have just left us alone and walked passed us instead of starting that little fight.

I suddenly bumped into Naruto as he stopped up out of nowhere. I looked up while rubbing my forehead and noticed we were standing in front of the door to his apartment. Did we get here already? Wow, I must have been in my thoughts all the time. Naruto unlocked the door and we walked inside, took off our shoes, headed for the couch and sat down.

"I'm sorry about that Naruto. They ruined our time in the park." I said and looked down. I could feel Naruto's arm around my shoulders just before he pulled me closer to him. "It wasn't your fault. You didn't know they would come and be such asses."

"I know... but still..." I said and sighed. "Hey, look on the bright side of it. You got your revenge." Naruto said and kissed my cheek. I looked at Naruto and smiled. "True." I placed a hand on his thigh to help it as support when I reached up to kiss him, but he winced the moment I put some weight onto my hand and I felt a sticky substance in my palm.

I looked down and noticed that my hand was surrounded by blood, so I removed my hand just to reveal a long and deep cut in Naruto's thigh. Blood were all over the wound and even his pants were red from all the blood. How did we not see this?! "Naruto! You're hurt! Why didn't you tell me that?!" I asked as I slightly panicked. "I didn't feel it. One of the guys must have cut me with their knife without me noticing."

"You knucklehead! Off to the bathroom now!" I simply demanded him and got off the couch. "The bathroom?" He asked and raised his eyebrow slightly. "Yes, the bathroom. I have to clean the wound from dirt and bacteria's before it gets infected. I too have to stop the bleeding before you faint. Off you go, now!"

Naruto practically flew off the couch and went to the bathroom. He was limping now that he was aware of the wound and could feel the pain. I followed him inside the bathroom and looked at him. "Do you have a first aid kit?"

"Yes, in the cupboard under the sink." Naruto said and pointed at the cupboard. "Take your pants off and go inside the shower." I said as I opened the cupboard and grabbed the first aid kit. "Why?" Naruto asked, confusion traced in his voice. I turned around and looked at him as I walked over to him. "First of all, I don't expect that you want your pants to get wet and heavy. Second of all, the fabric of your pants will be in the way when I'm going to clean the wound." I said and motioned for Naruto to get to it. He sweat dropped a bit by my commands and did as I told.

I opened the first aid kit and scrabbled through it for what I needed. I grabbed the bandage and disinfecting liquid and put it on the floor. I looked up again and noticed that Naruto was standing in the shower only in his boxers.

I couldn't help it but look at his slightly toned muscles. His biceps, triceps and abs all slightly toned. He looked strong, very strong. I managed to snap myself out of the small trance I was in as I noticed that Naruto was smirking. I felt a blush sneak on my cheeks and I immediately looked away from him. "Why did you take your shirt off?" I asked confused of his actions. "I only asked you to take off your pants."

"I'm going to wear a new shirt after this, so I might as well just get rid of it now."

"Oh... I see." I sat down on the floor in the shower and looked at Naruto's thigh where the wound was. The blood was running down his thigh, knee, shin, down his foot and onto the floor. "Can you please give me the showerhead and turn on the water?" I asked and looked up at Naruto, who nodded.

He gave me the showerhead and turned on the water as I asked him to and I began to wash the blood off of his leg. I gently moved the showerhead above the wound and let the water wash away the blood around the wound. Naruto flinched slightly, probably because it stung. I began to feel my legs and butt getting wet and looked down. Great. Now my pants are wet.

I stood up, took them off and tossed them out on the floor. I kneeled down and sat on my shins so my butt wouldn't get more wet than it already was. I have no intensions whatsoever of taking off my panties! That's just not going to happen. "Ouch! That hurts." Naruto suddenly exclaimed, pulling me out of my thoughts. I looked at what I was doing and saw I was making the water hit directly into the wound. I quickly moved the showerhead down and looked up at Naruto. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. You didn't do it on purpose, right?"

"Of course not!" I said and put the showerhead down on the floor. I then took the disinfecting liquid and looked up at Naruto. "Can you pull up your leg so it's formed as an L?" Naruto nodded and pulled up his leg. "This will sting a bit." I said as I sat on my knees and began to pour the disinfecting liquid on the wound. "Yiaw! Shit that hurts!" Naruto yelled in pain and put his leg back down. "I'm sorry but I have to do it. Otherwise it'll get infected." I said and put a hand over his wound and began to heal. "You don't have to heal it. Just put some bandage around it."

"It's okay. Sakura is teaching me how to use healing techniques. And besides, last time I healed you, I healed you perfectly."

"True." Naruto said and stroke my cheek. I smiled at him and removed my hand from the wound as I finished healing it and wrapped the bandage around it. "There you go." I said as I got up on my legs again. "Thank you Keichi."

"You're welcome." I looked at Naruto and smiled at him. Naruto took a step closer to me and wrapped his arms around my waist, kissing me softly. I blushed faintly and kissed back, wrapping my arms around Naruto's neck. We both slowly parted from the kiss and looked at each other. "Let's go to bed. I'm tired." Naruto said and yawned. "No wonder. You did lose a bit blood from that cut." I stepped out of the shower and left the bathroom, heading for the bedroom with Naruto right behind me.


End file.
